Page 67 - japanese and korean art Utterberg Collection Christie's March 22 2022

涅槃寂静 | THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NAYDA UTTERBERG (LOTs 1-20)

Chijue Daochong (1170-1250) was one of the most eminent Chan The site of the "Renowned Taibai Mountain,” where Tiantong
Buddhist masters during the Song dynasty. He was a child prodigy, Temple was located, would correspond to a date no later than
and yet failed to pass his civil service examinations after several 1244-45, when Chijue Daochong was summoned to Lingyin
attempts. He entered temple life in Sichuan, where he studied the Temple. The Cleveland Shakyamuni scroll was also inscribed at
sutra intensely to seek enlightenment. After wandering from temple Tiantong Temple, and is dated 1244.
to temple learning from various masters, he eventually became
abbot of several important temples in southern China, including The identity of the monk-artist who painted the Utterberg scroll
Lingyin Temple near Hangzhou. In his late years, the obligation is unknown, although the writing of a Japanese collector on the
for him to lecture and teach was so great that he often expressed a wood boxes indicates that the painting was previously attributed
longing to retreat and retire to the mountains. An example of his to the monk-artist Fachang, also known as Muqi, active in the
extant calligraphy includes an inscription on Shakyamuni Emerging 13th century. Here, sweeping ink washes define the contour of the
from the Mountains at the Cleveland Museum of Art. monk’s body in a “boneless” manner with rustic simplicity, while
the monk’s face and hands are rendered delicately with drier, exact
In the late Song dynasty, a monk mending his ragged robe in early brushstrokes. The sharpness of the needle stands out in striking
morning light gained popularity as a subject in spiritual painting, contrast. This abbreviated, monochromatic mode of ink painting
conventionally paired with the depiction of a monk reading sutras opens up the possibility of immediate and meditative artistic
by moonlight, as seen in examples at the Metropolitan Museum expression, and is often interpreted in light of Chan teachings.
of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The complementary
imageries, perhaps displayed in the monks’ living quarters, remind
the viewer of the important aspects of monastic life: it is through
performing both physical and intellectual labor in one’s everyday
activities that enlightenment could be attained.
Chijue Daochong’s calligraphic inscription reads:

Mending rips and tears,
Fixing loose threads,

The robe is so ragged, one does not know where to begin.
The needle appears golden in rays of the setting sun,
Yet one must still squint.
Old Monk Chijue, at the Renowned Taibai Mountain