These happy fellows are Kanzan and Jittoku as depicted by Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506).
Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku) are popular figures in Zen painting. They have been depicted many times as a pair, and the duo has become an identifiable motif in Zen painting and representative of deeper meanings in Zen Buddhism as a whole.
Hanshan, whose name means "Cold Mountain", is believed to be an eccentric Zen poet from the Tang Dynasty (618–907) who lived on the Tiantang Mountain in Zhejiang Province.
Shide, whose name means "foundling" or "pickup," was a kitchen worker at the nearby Guoqing Temple. He is said to have been abandoned by his family, and then found and raised by Fenggan, another Zen eccentric. As legend goes, the two formed a close friendship, with Shide stealing scraps from the kitchen to bring to Hanshan, and the pair spending time in nature, away from societal structure and institutions. Little is verified about the lives of these two figures, and they "have come to exist only in the works they have left behind.[1]"
Hanshan and Shide are easily recognizable in Zen painting. They are almost always depicted wearing scrappy and ratty clothing, appearing disheveled, wandering in nature, laughing, or with mischievous looks on their faces. Hanshan is identified by the scroll he holds in his hand, alluding to his work as a poet. Shide is identified by the broom he holds, which references his work as a kitchen cleaner at the monastery.
- Wikipedia
We follow with interest the variety of their many depictions. Here is a favourite, by Ekaku Hakuin (1686 - 1769), about which Katsuhiro Yoshizawa translated by Norman Waddell writes :
We follow with interest the variety of their many depictions. Here is a favourite, by Ekaku Hakuin (1686 - 1769), about which Katsuhiro Yoshizawa translated by Norman Waddell writes :
(It is an image) that employs the 'scroll within a scroll' motif. (It) shows a man standing before a hanging scroll inscribed with a verse from the 'Poems of Kanzan' :
If you have Kanzan's poems in your house It will be better for you than reading sutras;
Write them out and paste them up on your wall,
They'll be there to read whenever you want.
The smiling figure standing before the inscription savoring the words is the poet Kanzan himself. In a touch that adds a three-dimensional effect to the composition, Kanzan's companion Jittoku is shown peering out from behind the scroll.
By the time the viewer has read the inscription and grasped its meaning, he is contemplating the poem in the same manner as the smiling Kanzan. It might be hoped that he has become aware at least of the possibility of becoming Kanzan himself.
Ekaku Hakuin (1686–1769) Theatre of the Actors of Regard
A similar staging by Hanabusa Itchō (1652-1724).
collection Eisei Bunko Museum
Hanabusa Itchō (1652–1724) Theatre of the Actors of Regard
collection FIAPCE
Itcho ('a butterfly') was a student of the haiku master Basho ('banana tree') [click]. The scroll that Kanzan and Jittoku regard, hung from their upturned broom, does not contain a poem by Hanshan, nor is it even about them. In a cross-time paradox loop, we regard their regard of a tribute to a future-present-past master poet, Itcho's teacher Basho : a banana plant grows in the light of the moon (enlightenment).
A Basho basho haiku :
A Basho basho haiku :
Basho nowaki shite
A banana plant in the autumn gale -
Tarai ni ame o
I listen to the dripping of rain
Kiku yo kana
Into a basin at night.
[The two friends appear here much as Sesshu earlier depicted them, still painted in the Kano style, which Itcho would abandon for a style of his own, so this is probably an early work. Basho died in 1694.]
There's some concurrence with the 1972 Aktion 'Ausfegen' by Joseph Beuys and his two students who swept up the detritus in Karl Marx Platz, Berlin, after the May Day parade.
A few months after that...
[Beuys manifested his social philosophical ideas in abolishing entry requirements to his Düsseldorf class. Throughout the late 1960s this renegade policy caused great institutional friction, which came to a head in October 1972 when Beuys was dismissed from his post. That year he found 142 applicants who had not been accepted that he wished to enroll under his teaching. 16 of them agreed and he then occupied the offices of the academy to gain a hearing about their admission. They were admitted by the school, but the relationship between Beuys and the school were irreconcilable.[18] The dismissal, which Beuys refused to accept, produced a wave of protests from students, artists and critics. Although now bereft of an institutional position, Beuys continued an intense schedule of public lectures and discussions, as well as becoming increasingly active in German politics. Despite this dismissal, the walkway on the academy's side of the Rhine bears Beuys as its namesake. Later in life, Beuys became a visiting professor at various institutions (1980–1985). - Wikipedia)
There's some concurrence with the 1972 Aktion 'Ausfegen' by Joseph Beuys and his two students who swept up the detritus in Karl Marx Platz, Berlin, after the May Day parade.
A few months after that...
[Beuys manifested his social philosophical ideas in abolishing entry requirements to his Düsseldorf class. Throughout the late 1960s this renegade policy caused great institutional friction, which came to a head in October 1972 when Beuys was dismissed from his post. That year he found 142 applicants who had not been accepted that he wished to enroll under his teaching. 16 of them agreed and he then occupied the offices of the academy to gain a hearing about their admission. They were admitted by the school, but the relationship between Beuys and the school were irreconcilable.[18] The dismissal, which Beuys refused to accept, produced a wave of protests from students, artists and critics. Although now bereft of an institutional position, Beuys continued an intense schedule of public lectures and discussions, as well as becoming increasingly active in German politics. Despite this dismissal, the walkway on the academy's side of the Rhine bears Beuys as its namesake. Later in life, Beuys became a visiting professor at various institutions (1980–1985). - Wikipedia)
René Block Collection
A more recent depiction has Hanshan and Shide/Beuys and student with a formal projection-space [click] hung upon an upended red Label broom. The TAR tableau continuum...
Theatre of the Actors of Regard collection FIAPCE
Here's the scene again, from 1974 : 'Hanshan and Shide' as projection-space blob-heads in the manner of Fred Williams, as they/as we/as you and I regard this meta-deep detail of the TAR field.
Theatre of the Actors of Regard collection FIAPCE
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
LOGOS/HA HA
