Virtue

Hakuin Ekaku 白隠慧鶴

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This oversize rendition of the character for “virtue” (toku 徳) reflects the exuberant spiritual energy projected by Ekaku, who was one of the foremost proponents of the revival of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in late Edo-period Japan. Originally composed by Chinese historian and Confucian scholar Sima Guang (1018–1086), the inscription reads: If you pile up money for your children and grandchildren, they won’t be able to hold onto it. If you pile up books for your children and grandchildren, they won’t read any of them. No, the best thing to do is to quietly accumulate virtue, in the spiritual realm. Such a gift will benefit your descendants for a long, long time. —Trans. adapted from Jonathan Chaves

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art