Ink Drawing of Rāhula (The Son of Buddha）

Zuikō Chingyū (1743-1822) was a Sōtō Zen monk of the late Edo period. He was born in Higo Province. In Bunka 4 (1817), he opened Manshōji Temple in Nagoya at the request of Tokugawa Naritomo, Daimyō (Japanese military lord) of Owari domain. In Bunsei 3 (1820), he retired to Keiunken in the same province. He was a Sōtō Zen monk who excelled in calligraphy and painting, representing the latter half of the Edo period. In addition to his many calligraphies and paintings, he also made illustrations for Dōgen’s biographies, such as “Teiho Kenzeikizue” and “Eihei Dōgen Zenji Gyōjōzue,” and contributed to the popularization of Dōgen’s pictorial biographies.

Rāhula was one of the sixteen arhats, and was the son of Śākyamuni before his ordination. Later he was ordained and became one of Ten Great Disciples of Buddha. He followed the precepts to the last detail.

In this painting, Rāhula has split his abdomen open with both hands, and the face of Buddha can be seen through the split. This painting expresses that the Buddha nature exists within oneself.
The inscription is in Five-Character Quatrain. It was painted in Bunsei 2　(1819), when Chingyū was 77 years old.