Ink Drawing of Bodhidharma

Zuikō Chingyū (1743-1822) was a Zen monk of the Sōtō sect of Zen in the late Edo period. He lived at Myōonji Temple in Nagato, Kannon’in Temple and Tōkōji Temple in Higo, Zenkyūin Temple in Shinano, Ryūtaiji Temple in Mino, Hokkeji Temple in Settsu, and others. In Bunka 4 (1817), he opened Manshōji Temple in Nagoya at the request of Tokugawa Naritomo, Daimyō (Japanese military lord) of Owari domain. In Bunsei 3 (1820), he retired to Keiunken in the same province. He was a Zen monk who excelled in calligraphy and painting, representing the latter half of the Edo period, and left behind many calligraphic works with delicate and soft brush strokes. He also made illustrations for Dōgen’s biographies, such as “Teiho Kenzeikizue” and “Eihei Dōgen Zenji Gyōjōzue,” and contributed to the popularization of Dōgen’s pictorial biographies.

This is a Ink drawing of Dharma with inscription by Chingyū himself in Bunsei 1 (1818), when he was 77 years old.