Portrait of Duli Xingyi
Medium
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
w. 69.9 cm · painting: 111.4 × 50.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession Number
1965.31
Tags
About this artwork
In this portrait, the Ōbaku school Buddhist monk Duli Xingyi (born Tai Li, 1596–1672), whose name is pronounced Dokuryū Shōeki in Japanese, sits upon a woven mat holding a ceremonial scepter known as a ruyi, or nyoi in Japanese. Above his head is an insciption he added to the painting in 1671, the year before his death. It may be translated to read: Contemplative emptiness: the moon suspended over the village at midnight. Suddenly my soul is startled by the howl of an ape. Who could know that it...