Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed

Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed

Kano Genshun 狩野元俊

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma) was a sixth-century Indian sage who is credited with transmitting Zen Buddhist teachings to China. After an unsuccessful encounter with the Chinese Liang-dynasty Emperor Wu, Bodhidharma is said to have sailed up the Yangzi River on a single reed to continue his journey to promote Zen. Executed in an abbreviated style using only a few long, flowing strokes to define the sage’s robes, this work reflects an ink-painting style that was introduced from China in the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). The colophon above the figure, composed and inscribed by the noted Zen monk Gyokushitsu Sōhaku, reads: Lightly sailing on a single reed, He is majestic and commanding. Far from Liang territory, Ah, what does he recall? Although this painting was previously attributed to the Momoyama-period artist Kano Sōshū (1551–1601), a reevaluation of the seal impressed at lower right has revealed the artist to be Kano Genshun (also called Hayato), a Kano painter of the early Edo period and first head of the minor Yamashita Kano studio.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a ReedBodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a ReedBodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a ReedBodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a ReedBodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.