Portrait of Muso Kokushi (1275-1351)

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Muromachi-Suiboku

• Label

  Muso Soseki (1275-1351), a Japanese Zen priest who was instrumental in the formation of the Japanese Zen monastic tradition during the first half of the 14th century, was the founding partriarch of the Zen school known as Muso-ha. Many important Zen monks of the Muromachi period (1394-1573) were descended from that school. Muso also played a major role in enabling various Zen monastic centers to receive direct imperial patronage and thus acquire a signficant degree of legitimacy and respectability within Japanese Buddhism.

  Born into a prominent family, Muso's Buddhist training began when he was three years old. As a child he could recite the long canonical Lotus Sutra, and at the age of eight he was studying Chinese classics, both Confucian and Taoist. Before he was eighteen he had a dream in which he was led to a mountain temple where an old monk gave him a half-bust portrait of Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of the Zen school. From that time on Muso sought out various Zen masters for his training, some of whom were Chinese emigres at notable Zen temples such Kencho-ji and Engaku-ji in Kamakura. Muso became a fully ordained Zen priest in 1307, receiving the "robe", the symbol of transmission of teaching, from his master Koho Kennichi (1241-1316).

  Muso was an extraordinarily sensitive chanter of Buddhist texts. He was a painter, excellent calligrapher, poet and a garden designer as well. But as a Zen monk Muso followed a peripatetic life, always seeking places for quiet meditation and contemplation.

  Muso's reputation as a learned and talented monk spread througout the country. After years of avoiding official appointments he was appointed abbot at Nanzen-ji in Kyoto in 1325. From that year until his death in 1351 Muso continuously served as the head of various monasteries. Finally, in 1339, he became the founding abbot of the Tenryu-ji monastery, which ws established in memory of Emperor Godaigo. He was reappointed for the second time in 1351, just before his death.

  About a dozen portraits of Muso are known today, including one famous wooden sculpture. Among them, all in Japan, eight are executed in color on silk, and are all designated as Important Cultural Properties. The Freer version is close to a half-bust portrait, inscribed by Muso, now in the collection of Obai-in, a subtemple of the Engaku-ji monastery in Kamakura. Stylistically it is datable to the early 16th century.

• Provenance

  Hoki-in Temple [1]

  To 1904

  Yamanaka & Company, to 1904 [2]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1904 [3]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Remark 3, E.F.F., 1904, in the object record, this object had "recently come from Hokiin of Koyasan."

  [2] Original folder sheet note.

  Also see Original Panel List, pg. 15, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan (December 13, 2014 to June 14, 2015)

  Portraiture from Japan (July 1, 1983 to April 5, 1984)

  Japanese Art (October 2, 1975 to October 8, 1976)

  Chinese and Japanese Art--Lacquer and Paintings (August 18, 1967 to October 14, 1969)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hoki-in Temple

  Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1550s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Hoki-in Temple, Yamanaka and Co.

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Muromachi period (1333 - 1573), Japanese Art, Portraits, Clergy, Kakemono

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings