Toku (Virtue)
“If you pile up money for your descendants, they will be sure to waste it; if you collect books for them, they will probably not read a word. It is better to pile up secret virtue—such a legacy will last a long, long time!”1
Hakuin’s inscription quotes the eleventh-century Chinese sage Sima (1018–1086), who emphasized that virtuous deeds be performed privately or even secretly instead of for public recognition, contrasting typical, more conspicuous acts of Buddhist patronage with true virtues. There is perhaps a touch of irony therefore in Hakuin’s large rendering of the character for virtue at the bottom of this work, which has been further enhanced through his use of a thicker, more congealed ink, making the character appear extra dark and saturated.2 The monk’s fascination with calligraphy is further evident through the inscription, with certain phrases, such as “pile up money,” brushed in oversize characters.
—Bradley Bailey
Notes
1John Stevens, Zen Mind Zen Brush: Japanese Ink Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2006), 52. Another adaption of this translation, which seems to incorporate more of Hakuin’s signature use of vernacular language, has been given by Stephen Addiss as: “Save up money for your descendants—they’ll just spend it. / Collect books for your sons and grandsons—they won’t read them. / The best thing to do for them—increase your own virtue. / Quietly, secretly, impart this ideal to your descendants, and it will endure through the generations.” Stephen Addiss and Audrey Yoshiko Seo, The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin (Boulder: Shambhala, 2010), 179–80.
2 Stephen Addiss notes a passage from Hakuin’s writings dated 1749 in which the monk expresses his fascination with the construction and etymology of the character toku (virtue) in particular. See Addiss and Seo, The Sound of One Hand, 181.