Portrait of Gesshū Sōko

Chitō Shōgen (1665-1739) was a Sōtō Zen monk of the mid-Edo period. Born in Uji, Yamashiro. He studied under Gesshū Sōko and succeeded to the Dharma of Manzan Dōhaku. He served as the 33rd abbot of Kaga Daijōji Temple for 13 years from Kyōhō 2 (1717).

This painting is an inscription by Chitō to his master Gesshū's chinzō (portrait). Originally, a disciple would draw the master's chinzō and the master would add inscriptions of praise and Dharma words to the portrait as a sign of transmission. Later, it came to be depicted as an expression of respect and admiration for the virtues of the ancestors. The chinzō can be right-facing or left-facing, but the frontal view shown here is believed to have been influenced by the style of the Ōbaku school.
The first and second of the Five-character Quatrain are from the “Hongzhi's Extensive Record.”