Portrait of Dokuan Genkō

Dokuan Genkō (1630-1698) was a Sōtō Zen monk of the early Edo period. He was born in Hizen Province. In his later years, he was also known as Dokuan. He also attended the Ōbaku master Daozhe Chaoyuan, and became the fourth abbot of Kōtaiji Temple in Nagasaki. He also worked for the revival of Ryūkōji Temple in Kawachi and Daidōji Temple in Settsu. Along with Gesshū Sōko, he is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of a movement for the restoration of the sect. His successor was Tangen Jichō, who wrote Japan’s first full-fledged biography of a Sōtō Zen monk, “Nichiiki Tōjō Shosoden.”
Dokuan excelled in poetry and writing, and was praised by leading Confucian scholars of his day, including Ogyū Sorai and Arai Hakuseki, as having a literary talent that surpassed that of Confucian scholars.

This painting is a chinzō (portrait) of a Zen monk, for which Dokuan wrote his own inscription, which is also included in “Gohōshū,” a collection of writings by Dokuan.
Daidōji Temple was located in Higashiyodogawa ward, Osaka Prefecture, and was revived by Dokuan and closed in the early Meiji era. This inscription on the wooden case indicates that this chinzō was transmitted to Daidōji Temple since its foundation, and is a valuable description that clarifies the history of the temple.