Calligraphy for the Plaque of a Zen Temple Śākyamuni Statue Hall

Outside of the halls and gates of Buddhist temples you will often see wooden panels with large lettering on them. Such writing isn’t just done with a brush, but is normally embossed or engraved in the shape of the lettering. The original writing which serves as the template for such pieces is known as the gakuji. This piece, as such a template, was created by the Zen monk Wuzhun Shifan, which he then sent to his apprentice Enni Ben’en. These four characters mean “A palace to enshrine the Buddha.” The writer, Wuzhun Shifan, was a monk of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, who practiced during the Southern Song dynasty.

Enni Be’nen was one of the many apprentices Wuzhun had in Japan and China, and he had travelled to China to study Zen. When Enni first opened the Joten-ji Temple in Hakata City in Fukuoka prefecture, Wuzhun sent him these writings for use in the signboards and notice boards of the temple. The piece is thought to have been written in Wuzhun’s own hand, and it’s a valuable work, both as an example of calligraphy of China’s Southern Song dynasty and as an artifact that can teach us about the interaction of Chinese and Japanese Zen monks. This piece was later cared for by the Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.