Currently not on view
Kanzan and Jittoku
Gyōshū Sōkan 堯州宗寛 (inscriber), 1717–1787
Kanzan and Jittoku (Chinese: Hanshan and Shide) were semi-legendary Zen monks of Tang dynasty (618–906) China, who became common subjects in Buddhist painting throughout East Asia. Kanzan, an eccentric poet, is shown holding a scroll. He befriended Jittoku, who worked as a humble servant at the temple. Stories of Jittoku, who is often pictured with a broom, tell of his great wisdom and virtue, thereby cautioning that one should not jump to conclusions from outward appearances. Known for his individualistic brushwork, Shōhaku managed to capture the two friends’ unkempt looks and carefree manners.
Information
Asia, Japan
Kanzan and Jittoku are semi-legendary figures that are associated with Zen Buddhism. Kanzan (Chinese name: Hanshan 寒山) was a monk known for his eccentricities who lived during the Tang dynasty (618-907). He befriended the monk Jittoku (Chinese: Shide 拾得) who in some stories was said to work in a kitchen and in others tales was a janitor. The two monks were inseparable companions living at Guoqing si 國清寺, one of the many temples in China’s sacred Mount Tiantai. The pair become known as incarnations of bodhisattvas – Kanzan was thought to be an emanation of Monju and Jittoku of Fugen. In Japan the pair became popular subjects for Zen painters.
Shohaku was a prominent painter of the 18th century, known for shunning contemporary painting styles in favor of Muromachi period (1336-1573) aesthetics mingled with his own eccentric painterly innovations. In this painting Shohaku’s distinctive brushwork is on display. The figures of Kanzan and Jittoku are depicted leaning back-to-back with their bodies angled away from the viewer in a triangular arrangement. The wide, ragged stokes look like they were painted with a thick, worn-out brush, but the strokes capture the shape of the figures superbly. Kanzan is the figure on the left and Jittoku on the right. Shohaku painted this pair frequently and in every image Jittoku is always painted with dark black ink. It’s possible Shohaku is drawing attention to the old idea that Jittoku was an incarnation of Kanzan and so they are presented as a duality – light and dark, white and black, two sides of the same person.
1998–2020 Gitter-Yelen Collection (New Orleans, LA), by gift and sold to the Princeton University art Museum, 2020.
