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rokuso@˜Z‘c
KEY WORD :@art history / iconography
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The sixth Zen ‘T (Ch: Chan) patriarch, Huineng (Jp: Enou Œd”\, 638-713), also considered the 33rd patriarch in descent from the historic Buddha, Sakyamuni (Jp: *Shaka Žί‰ή) . Chinese founder of the "Southern School of Zen" (Jp: Nansouzen “μ‘v‘T), and a favorite subject in Chinese and Japanese ink painting. Hagiographic accounts tell of his sudden enlightenment at about the age of 24, when he overheard the preaching of The Diamond Sutra KONGOUKYOU ‹ΰ„Œo. While a student studying under the Fifth Patriarch Hongren (Jp: Kounin O”E, 601-75) Huineng, Rokuso worked milling rice for the monks. In painting, he is often represented by the foot-mill used in this work (Jp: rokuso taibou ˜Z‘c‰O–[). When Hongren decided to choose a successor, although the head monk was the conventional choice, Hongren was so impressed by a poem by Huineng about enlightenment that he chose him to become the sixth patriarch. Sudden enlightenment became the hallmark of Huineng's subsequent lineage and of several painting themes related to his life. One account has it that Huineng was suddenly enlightened while chopping bamboo and this subject (Jp: rokuso setchiku ˜Z‘cB’|) was painted by Liang Kai (Jp: Ryou Kai —ΐž²; act. early 13c; Tokyo National Museum) as well as later Japanese artists. The anti-textual inclination of Huineng and the Southern School is reflected in the theme of the Sixth Patriarch tearing up a sutra (Jp: rokuso hakyou ˜Z‘c”jŒo), also illustrated by Liang Kai. In addition to these paintings which are grouped under "paintings of Zen acts"*zenki-zu ‘T‹@}, there exist more conventional "patriarch portraits" of Huineng.
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REFERENCES:
*zenshuu soshizou ‘T@‘cŽt‘œ.
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