Ink Drawing of De-shan Xuan-jian

This painting was painted by Shōkadō Shōjō (1584 [or 1582] -1639), and was inscribed by Takuan Sōhō.

Shōkadō Shōjō was a monk of Shingon sect of Buddhism and Noh calligrapher in the early Edo period, who was born in Settsu Province. He was also known as Seiseiō, Kūshiki, and so on. In Keichō 5 (1600), he became a monk living at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine (Kyoto Prefecture), where he studied esoteric Buddhism. In Kan'ei 4 (1627), he succeeded as resident priest of Takimotobō, the resident priest.

He excelled in calligraphy and painting, and was one of the Three greatest calligraphers of the Kan’ei era, along with Hon’ami Kōetsu and Konoe Nobutadadi. He was the founder of the Takimoto school (style of Shōkad), and his calligraphy was widely published as models. His painting style was a mixture of the Tosa school and the Kanō school, and he left many works. He was also well versed in the tea ceremony, and the tea utensils he collected are highly valued among tea masters as “Yawata Meibutsu (masterpieces in Yawata).”

In Kan’ei 14 (1637), after handing over Takimotobō to his younger brother, he ran “Shōkadō” on a hill south of Takimotobō and lived in seclusion there, where he practiced the way of elegance. He was a representative cultural figure of the Kan’ei Era, having had extensive contact with Buddhist monks, tea masters, and warriors class such as Takuan Sōhō, Kobori Enshū, and Tokugawa Yoshinao.

It is said that the Shōkadō bentō (lunchbox) was modeled after the toolbox used by Shōjō. It is said that Shōjō made his own box, inspired by the seed containers used by farmers, and used it as a paint box or a tobacco tray for tea ceremonies. The owner of a Ryōtei (Japanese-style restaurant) who heard this story invented the Shōkadō bentō with a cross-shaped divider at the end of the Taishō period, which is said to have been the origin of the Shōkadō bentō.

This drawing is from October Kan’ei 15 (1638), and Takuan is 66 years old. In July of this year, Takuan gave a lecture on “Gen'ninron” to the Retired Emperor Gomizunō, and in Edo, Tokugtawa Iemitsu was about to establish the foundations of Tōkaiji Temple in Shinagawa. At the time, Shōjō was 56 years old, the year after Shōkadō was built.

The man who sits with a stick is the Tang Dynasty Zen monk Deshan Xuanjian (780-865). He was called “Deshan’s wooden ‘elder staff” because he treated the scholars severely by wielding a stick. Together with “Linji’s ‘Diamond King’ shout” by Linji Yixuan (?~866), the founder of the Linji sect in China at the same time, it is often referred to as a word that expresses the sharp Zen style of mind. Since the drawing of Deshan usually has a pair of Linji and Deshan or a three pair of Bodhidharma, Linji and Deshan, it is thought that this painting was originally a pair or a three pair.