Couplet in running-standard script

Object Details

• Artist

  Hongyi (1880-1942)

• Label

  Bounty and increase for one and all;

  Full and complete, supreme compassion.

  As indicated in the small column of text on the right scroll, the calligrapher quoted these two lines from a Buddhist hymn at the end of chapter forty-four in the abstruse Avatamsaka Sutra (Garland sutra), which was preached by the Buddha directly after his enlightenment. Translated from Sanskrit into Chinese around 418-20 c.e., this sutra later became the central text of the Huayan School of Buddhism in China, which flourished during the Tang dynasty (618-907).

  By the end of the nineteenth century, the young Li Shutong had already established his name as a traditional poet, author, painter, calligrapher, and seal carver. After studying Western art and music in Japan from 1905 to 1910, he returned to China a leading proponent of the new literature and worked as a journalist, literary and art editor, and college instructor. Despite his worldly success, Li experienced a profound spiritual dissatisfaction, and in 1918 he took holy vows as a Buddhist monk with the religious name of Hongyi, becoming a leading reformer of the clergy renowned for his austerity. Inspired by early sutra scrolls, Hongyi developed his own style of calligraphy, which is prized for its simple, unassuming character.

• Provenance

  To 1998

  Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (born 1929), New York City, to 1998

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Robert Hatfield Ellsworth in 1998 [1]

  Notes:

  [1] All Chinese calligraphy in the gift were published in Mr. Ellsworth's Later Chinese Painting and Calligraphy: 1800-1950, vol. 3 (New York: Random House, 1986) (according to Curatorial Note 4, Joseph Chang, May 19, 1998, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art

• Type

  Calligraphy

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1930s

• Name

  Ellsworth, Robert Hatfield

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Running-standard script, Couplet, Chinese Art, Robert Hatfield Ellsworth collection, Modern period (1912 - present)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)