Kakemono Ensō and “Muichimotsu” – Horizontal Zen Calligraphy

A single, unbroken stroke: the circle begins at the lower right, swells in rich ink and closes with a strong knot where the brush meets its starting point. Beside it stand the three characters “Muichimotsu,” not a single thing – one of the best-known phrases of Zen, which together with the ensō speaks of emptiness and completeness at once.

The signature reads “前大徳 朴堂” and identifies the writer Bokudō as a former priest of Daitoku-ji, one of the great Rinzai monasteries of Kyōto; two seals and a head seal complement it. The name points to Satō Bokudō, whose scrolls render short texts of the Zen tradition for the tokonoma and the tea room.

This horizontal hanging scroll on paper dates from the Shōwa period and, at 63 × 130 cm, is as well suited as a chagake for the tea room as it is for a quiet wall in a living space. It is mounted in gold-colored brocade and light silk damask, the jikusaki are made of wood, and the lid of the wooden box bears the same inscription as the calligraphy.