In the painting proper the patriarch Mazu Daoyi (709-788) of the Nanyue School of Chan Buddhism looks up at the moon while conversing with the monks Baizhang and Xitang; the fourth monk, Nanchuan turns his back on the other three and leaves. The painting thus captures the spirit of individualism that characterized Buddhism during the Tang dynasty, a time when fierce debates on the role to be played by scriptures, images, and ceremonial practices divided believers into various sects and branches. Mazu held that books and outward ritual were useless and to be discarded, arguing for the abstraction of the mind from all phenomena perceived through the senses, and even from its own thoughts.
The painter Gumei was one of the circle of artists who gathered around Kaiho Yusho (1533-1615) and he worked with Yusho on various commissions, especially those calling for oshiebari screens in which each panel was decorated by a different artist. The figures painted by Yusho are sometimes termed fukuro or “bag” figures in reference to their strong volumetric character, and Gumei’s figures in the present painting share that same distinguishing characteristic as well as a similar use of ink wash combined with strong accents in darker and dryer ink.
Details:
Box lid inscription:
馬大師觀月圖
Master Mazu viewing the moon.
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Inner box lid inscriptions:
Upper section:
This inscription lists three classic Zen literary collections indicating where the story illustrated in the painting can be found.
[1]出典 禅門拈頌集巻第五第十一則 Zenmon Nenjūshū, Volume 5, Case 11
[2] 葛藤集巻上第六十五則 Kattōshū, Volume 1, Case 65
[3] 禅林類聚巻第十四日月 Zenrin Ruijū, Volume 14, section “Sun and Moon”
Middle section:
賛 大徳第八十七世 勅特賜 大傳佛燈禅師 休翁宗萬和尚
Inscription by the 87th chief priest of Daitokuji, the honorable Daiden Buttō [the name] especially bestowed by the Emperor on the monk Kyūō Sōman.
Lower section:
畫(画) ⁅ ⁆ 愚明鳥藤居士識幷蔵
“Painting [by] Gumei, owned by the layman Chōtō, who inscribed [the box].”
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Box end label:
愚明筆 三老翫月図
“Gumei painted Three Elders Enjoying the Moon picture.”
Seal: illegible