Ink Drawing of Saigyō Looking at Mt. Fuji

Sengai Gibon (1750-1837) was a Zen monk of the Rinzai school in the late Edo period. He was also known as Entsū, Tenmin, Hyakudō, Kyohaku, and others. In Kansei 1 (1789), he became the resident priest of Fukuoka Shōfukuji Temple and devoted himself to its restoration. Shōfukuji Temple was founded in Kenkyū 6 (1195) by Eisai, the temple’s founder, and Minamoto no Yoritomo, the temple’s patron at its founding. On the Sanmon (main gate), there is a plaque with the Retired Emperor Gotoba’s imperial inscription, ‘Fusō saisho zenkutsu (the first Zen temple in Japan).’

In Bunka 8 (1811), Sengai retired to Kyohakuin in Shōfukuji Temple. He devoted himself to zazen meditation, and in the meantime, excelled at calligraphy and painting. His caricatural style of painting and witty, unexpected content made him a popular lecturer on the essentials of Zen. Along with Hakuin Ekaku, he is a representative of early modern Zen painting of the Rinzai sect.

This painting depicts Saigyō (1118-1190), who was undergoing ascetic training in various countries, looking at Mt. Fuji. The inscription is the last part of Saigyō’s waka poem, which is included in the “Shin Kokin Wakashū.”