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Sengai Gibon (1750-1837) was a Japanese monk of the 臨在宗 Rinzai sect of Zen (Chan) Buddhism. He is loved for his whimsical teachings, poems and sumi-e (Zen-ga) paintings. He lived in Nagata near Yokohama, until middle age when he became the abbot to the Shōfukuji in Hakata (Fukuoka), said to be the first Zen Temple in founded in Japan, where he spent the rest of his life. His paintings were influenced by the work of Chinese monks who had fled to Japan to escape the turmoil of dynastic change in China. This brush painting by Sengai is of the Tang monk 德三十棒 Desan Shibang (J. Tukusan) from the book Sengai, The Zen Master by Daisetz Suzuki, New York Graphic Society Ltd, 1971.

Kyohaku Courtyard Blues 處白院獨居吟

Roasting The Buddha 燒佛

Tiger Creek Laughter 虎溪笑

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Shofukuji 聖福寺

Dazaifu 太宰府躋

Fukuoka 福岡県

Japan 日本