Cascading cursive columns fill a tall hanging scroll

Four columns of bold cursive calligraphy in black ink cascade down this tall, narrow hanging scroll, the strokes swelling from thick, wet strokes to thin, dry trailing lines. Characters vary widely in size and lean into one another across the columns. Two faint pale-red seal impressions, stacked, sit at the lower left of the sheet. The verse is a gatha, a contemplative verse, by the monk Fu Daishi (497–569).

The original: a hanging scroll, ink on paper, Japan, Edo period, late 17th century, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Bankei Yōtaku (1622–1693) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen master of the Edo period. Born in Harima Province, he was ordained at Zuiō-ji under the priest Umpo Zenjo, who gave him the Buddhist name Yōtaku. His teaching centred on the Unborn, the Buddha mind already present in everyone, and his public talks in everyday Japanese drew large lay audiences. His home monastery was Ryūmon-ji, and he also founded Nyohō-ji in Sanuki and Kōrin-ji in Edo. His work, a hanging scroll of a contemplative verse by Fu Daishi, is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Printed as a museum-grade giclée on Hahnemühle fine art paper using 12-ink archival pigment printing. Available handframed in FSC-certified wood with optional float glass, or unframed. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.