Ink Drawing of Bodhidharma Sitting Facing the Wall

Tōrei Enji (1721-1792) was a Zen monk of the Rinzai sect in the mid-Edo period. Tōrei was a disciple of Hakuin Ekaku, the founder of the Rinzai sect’s revival, and is considered one of Hakuin’s four leading disciples. Like his master Hakuin, he excelled in calligraphy and painting, and many of his works remain.

This is one of the ink drawings of Bodhidharma, which is associated with the legend that the founder of Zen, Dharma, spent nine years in zazen facing a wall at Shaolin Temple on Mt. Song. The image is depicted with a single stroke of the brush; thus, it is also called ‘Hitofude Dharma (a Dharma with a single stroke of the brush).’ The inscription is based on the words of ‘Chanyuan Zhuquanji Duxu’ by the Tang dynasty monk Guifeng Zongmi (780-841). This provides an explanation of the Sitting Facing the Wall, which is characteristic of Dharma’s Zen thought.