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Source Description
This spontaneous, bold calligraphy style is characteristic of members of the Japanese Ōbaku school (Huangbo in Chinese) of Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism, which was founded in Japan by Chinese monks in the 1600s. The monk Yueshan emigrated to Japan from the Chinese province of Fujian, taking a priestly post at Manpukuji, the headquarters of the Ōbaku school in Japan. He later became the seventh abbot of the distinguished temple.<br><br>Yueshan’s calligraphy features rounded characters that allow him to fuse strokes and characters in speedy brush movements. Here the text begins with the large character <em>chu </em>(初, “the beginning”), the initial focus of meditation on the text: <em>The dragon murmurs after sunset. The tiger roars before dawn.</em>
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
162868
label
Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
162868
contentType
object
title
Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu)
description
This spontaneous, bold calligraphy style is characteristic of members of the Japanese Ōbaku school (Huangbo in Chinese) of Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism, which was founded in Japan by Chinese monks in the 1600s. The monk Yueshan emigrated to Japan from the Chinese province of Fujian, taking a priestly post at Manpukuji, the headquarters of the Ōbaku school in Japan. He later became the seventh abbot of the distinguished temple.<br><br>Yueshan’s calligraphy features rounded characters that allow him to fuse strokes and characters in speedy brush movements. Here the text begins with the large character <em>chu </em>(初, “the beginning”), the initial focus of meditation on the text: <em>The dragon murmurs after sunset. The tiger roars before dawn.</em>
date
c. 1660–1709
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60778181
creators
46142
genreSpecific
Calligraphy
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Image: 28.6 x 64.1 cm (11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 115.6 x 73.8 cm (45 1/2 x 29 1/16 in.)
cul
China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
accession
2003.353
Source extras
tec
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
tombstone
Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu), c. 1660–1709. Yueshan Daozong (Chinese, 1629–1709). Hanging scroll; ink on paper; image: 28.6 x 64.1 cm (11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.); overall with knobs: 115.6 x 73.8 cm (45 1/2 x 29 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow, 2003.353
collection
ASIAN - Hanging scroll
inscriptions
inscription
初/
龍吟初夜後，虎嘯五更前
inscription_translation
The beginning./
The dragon murmurs after sunset. The tiger roars before dawn./
New Spring/
Calligraphy by Nanyue Yueshan
inscription
悅山
inscription_translation
Yueshan
inscription_remark
Calligrapher's relief seal
inscription
道宗之印
inscription_translation
Daozong zhi yin (Seal of Daozong)
inscription_remark
Calligrapher's intaglio seal
inscription
Linji zheng zong
inscription_translation
The Orthodox school of Linji
inscription_remark
Rectangular intaglio seal indicating the orthodox school of Linji, a Chan sect established in the Tang dynasty by Yixuan (d. 867) and named after the temple in which he lived.
didYouKnow
Ōbaku-style calligraphy favors rounded—rather than angular—brushstrokes. It is not a subtle style of calligraphy, as the Chan monks preferred a bold approach.
citations
citation
Chang, Willow Hai. <em>Song of Life: Chinese Art from the Gow Family Collection</em>. Naples, FL: Naples Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 24, p. 72.
citation
Yu, Jing 余靜. “Introduction of Huangbo Calligraphy and Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art <br>Collection in the United States = 美國克利夫蘭藝術博物館所藏黃檗書畫譯介.” <em>Research on Fujian Merchant Culture: Special Issue on Huangbo (Ōbaku) Studies</em> 闽商文化研究 黄檗学 特刊（黄檗艺术号) 0105 (2023): 49–53.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: fig. 2, p. 51
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:27:51.192000
sourceId
162868
dept
Chinese Art
coll
ASIAN - Hanging scroll
med
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
9db61976c9f5992a