Hagi ware
Chawan, tea bowl - 寂然 - “Lonesome.”Signed:
Seals: kaô (Mumon)
Technique: Wheel-turned glazed red Hagiyaki (with the 5 mountains rim) Ø 13.9 x 7.4
Box: signed by the potter
Condition: fine
寂然 - Sekizen, “Lonesome.”
Mumon (Taishitsu) studied law in his youth, but was converted to the Buddhist life by a statement from Confucian theory: “Rather than become a lawyer, create a world where there is no need for courts.”
After taking the tonsure, he initially studied under Kawaguchi Ekai, the first Japanese Zen priest to visit Tibet. However after several years in isolation battling tuberculosis, he emerged to receive his certificate of enlightenment from Seisetsu Genjo, and went on to head a number of prominent Zen temples.
He was one of the most famous masters of the Rinzai sect in the 20th century. He was abbot of the Shofuku-ji in Kobe and the 639th generation abbot of Myoshin-ji in Kyoto, head of the Hanazono College and he established the Institute of Zen Culture. During the 1960s he travelled to South-East Asian countries to apologize for Japanese aggression during the war. He visited the USA and in Europe he opened an East West spiritual exchange center.
Reference:
Moog p. 318
Dujin p. 55-61, 88-89
Price: SOLD
