Kakemono Calligraphy: Clear Breeze in Paulownia and Bamboo

Five powerfully rendered characters, 清風入梧竹 (seifū gochiku ni iru), carry the meaning "The Clear Breeze Enters the Paulownia and Bamboo" – a concise yet especially vivid motif that conjures up an entire soundscape with minimal means. The calligraphy is signed 錦月 (Kingetsu).

The brushstroke combines broad, rich areas with faster, thinner lines, so that the characters themselves take on a certain sense of movement that corresponds to the pictorial theme of the blowing wind. The rustling of the wind in the bamboo is one of the most frequently celebrated soundscapes in East Asian poetry and stands for a fleeting yet deeply felt experience of nature.

As a short, concise calligraphy hanging scroll, this work is particularly suited to a sparsely furnished room, in which a few but expressive characters are meant to speak for themselves.