Late 18th century

Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Myōhō Renge-kyō)

Japanese, 1718 - 1804

One the most talented and individualistic of Edo period calligraphers, Jiun was trained as a Buddhist monk and became renowned for his studies of the Sanskrit language. Jiun's calligraphy is most influenced by the brushwork of the Öbaku Zen monks, known as bokuseki (ink traces), although he seems consciously to ignore the rules of calligraphy in his free and idiosyncratic handling of ink and brush. The five-character inscription of this calligraphy reads myöhö renge-kyö, or Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, referring to the canonical Buddhist text more popularly known simply as the Lotus Sutra.