Hakuin Ekaku

HAKUIN EKAKU (1686-1769)
Kan'u, God of War
Edo period (1615-1868), dated 1761
Kakejiku (hanging scroll), ink on silk in silk mounts with lacquered wood jikusaki (roller ends), depicting Guan Yu (in Japanese, Kan'u), Chinese God of War, wearing a characteristically fierce expression (emphasized by extra-large eyes in the artist's typical style), dressed in canonical Chinese-style uniform and holding a dragon staff in his left hand, his other hand raised to his head, at upper right a date of Horeki kanoto-mi (1761), two faint seals Hakuin and Ekaku, inscribed with numerous kanbun (Chinese-character) texts relating to Kan'u; affixed below with an additional piece of silk with an inscription dated Ansei sansai hinoe-tatsu (1856) and a dedication to a Zen master named Hokaku Zenshi, aged 94, identifying the subject of the painting as Akiba Sanjakubo Kan'u Seikun (The God of Mount Akiba as an avatar of Kan'u) and stating that Shinki Dokumyo Zenshi (a posthumous title conferred upon Hakuin by Empress Go-Sakuramachi [r. 1762-1771]) created the image to special order; with a wood storage box titled Hakuin Osho shinseki, Kan'u (Kan'u, an authentic painting by Priest Hakuin), dated and signed inside the lid Showa gojuichinen kisaragi kissho nichi, Korin Genso kore o shirusu (Recorded by Korin Genso [A chief priest in Shorin Temple] on an auspicious day in February, 1976) with seal. Overall: 174cm x 49cm (68½in x 19 5/16in); image: 90cm x 33cm (35 7/16in x 13in). (2).