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Source Description
At the right is Daruma, the 5th- or 6th-century Indian monk who founded Zen Buddhism. The characters on the left say "No merit." This is a reference to a conversation Daruma purportedly had with the emperor of China. When the emperor asked how much merit he had acquired for his good works, Daruma replied, "No merit." Daruma's enigmatic answers to the emperor's other questions also centered on nothingness.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
10119
label
Kozuka with Daruma
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
10119
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Kozuka with Daruma
description
At the right is Daruma, the 5th- or 6th-century Indian monk who founded Zen Buddhism. The characters on the left say "No merit." This is a reference to a conversation Daruma purportedly had with the emperor of China. When the emperor asked how much merit he had acquired for his good works, Daruma replied, "No merit." Daruma's enigmatic answers to the emperor's other questions also centered on nothingness.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
n.d.
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
kozuka
sword components
handles
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensionsRaw
3 3/4 in. (9.6 cm) (l.)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
[Inscription] 無功徳; [Transliteration] mukodoku; [Translation] no merit
med
shakudo, shibuichi, copper gold
creator_ids
6194
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
2616079aede1cefd
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
c51509c469aa601f
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no