My favorite time period in Japan (and there are many) is the Muromachi era, when a militarized aristocracy ruled in a de-centralized state. The shōgun were just coming on the scene, and they had aspersions of refinement but lacked the intellectual legacy of the ruling class they had usurped. Into this world entered Zen Buddhism, characterized by its forceful presentation and discipline, founded by the Chinese master you see here, Linji Yixuan (d. 866), or Rinzai in Japanese.
This style of Zen Buddhism is named Rinzai after its founder. The master was known for shouting angrily at his pupils and getting enraged — this was all for a spiritual purpose, which was to have the students make sudden mental revelations about their true nature — “kensho”. In this colored ink painting, the artist depicts Linji Yixuan shouting, his hands curled into angry fists. The inscription, done by Ittō Shōteki (d 1606), is a passage from _The Recorded Sayings of the Zen Master Linji_.
You might recognize from popular culture other elements of the Rinzai tradition: the Zen tea ceremony, or the posing of riddles called koans (“what is the sound of one hand clapping?”). Another tradition is rigorous discipline of long seated meditations (zazen), with maybe a Zen teacher thwacking sleepy students with a stick to shake up their consciousness.
Fierce stuff, which well suited students who had led a warrior’s lifestyle.
Sources: Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC
