“Friends on the road, looking at each other straight in the eye, carrying straw brooms in their hands, and sweeping out the halls of Kuo-ch’ing Temple. They leave with the wind-swept clouds, rest with the bright moon, tie sutras to the tip of their staff, and write poems on the cliffs of stone. Their words go beyond emotion. The Supreme Truth is hard to understand! Tattered clothes and tousled hair, they look like a pair of yokels.”¹

 

In both his painting and his lengthy inscription, Chingyū conveys two figures who are meant to be eccentric, living outside of the bounds of material society, carefree in the wilderness. His description encompasses humble, everyday acts, such as cleaning, and acts of seeming silliness, emphasizing that Kanzan’s and Jittoku’s appearance and behaviors conceal their brilliant and enlightened minds.

 

—Bradley Bailey