“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”

“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”

Yinyuan Longqi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the mid-seventeenth century, Yinyuan was abbot of the Chan monastery Wanfusi in Fujian Province. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, Yinyuan left China for Japan, where he was warmly received by adherents of Zen hungry for new teachings from the continent. Yinyuan (known as Ingen in Japan) and his disciples founded a new school of Zen in Japan, which came to be known as Ōbaku—the Japanese pronunciation of Huangbo, home of the original Wanfusi. Yinyuan was a gifted calligrapher, and he helped to establish a distinctive manner of Ōbaku calligraphy in Japan. This scroll reads: “The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years.”

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”“The Way of the patriarchs spans a thousand years”

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.