Reading a Sutra Under the Moon

The "ink traces" or bokuseki of Zen masters have long been esteemed as among the most noble and high-minded forms of visual expression in Japanese culture. As one of the founding masters of Japanese Obaku, a combination of Rinzai and Pure Land Buddhism, Sokuhi’s calligraphy has been highly admired for centuries. However, the question remains: is this an "ink trace" of Sokuhi?

A nearly identical example of the Smart Museum painting—what is considered to be a rare subject matter for Sokuhi—exists in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Comparison of the Smart’s painting with the New York painting, which is considered to be an indisputable work from the master’s hand, reveals a number of inconsistencies. The application of ink is much too dry. The lines used to create the outline of the figure are too soft. The characters of the poem are often times strung together and lack the "personality" typical of Sokuhi’s extant work. Furthermore, several of the characters found on this hanging scroll are inconsistent with those found in the Met’s inscription. With all of this in mind, many experts agree that this painting is only a loose approximation of Sokuhi’s calligraphic force and therefore cannot be called a genuine "ink trace" of this famous teacher.