(1348–c. 1420). Japanese Zen monk, scholar, calligrapher, poet and painter. He began his training as a monk at Nanzenji in Kyoto, under Shun’oku Myoha, the nephew and disciple of Muso Soseki, one of the leading Zen prelates of the Muromachi period (1333–1568). His other teachers included the Zen recluse Shakushitsu Genko and Gido Shushin, under whom he studied literature. A trusted adviser of the fourth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimochi, Gyokuen was appointed to the prestigious abbacies of Kenninji (c. 1409) and Nanzenji (1413) in Kyoto. His true wish, however, was to retire from the world, and in 1420, after a disagreement with Yoshimochi, he left Kyoto to lead a life of seclusion. An accomplished poet, Gyokuen also brushed colophons on many shigajiku (poem-painting scrolls) of the period, including Josetsu’s Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (c. 1413–15; Kyoto, Myoshinji; see JAPAN, fig. 92). His own painting, which shows the influence of the mid-14th-century Chinese priest–painter Xue Chuang and of Tesshu Tokusai, strongly reflects his literary disposition. He is especially well known for his subdued monochrome ink paintings of orchids (emblems of moral virtue), 30 of which have survived. A particularly fine example is the hanging scroll Orchids and Rocks (Tokyo, N. Mus.; see fig. on next page).

• Gyokuen Bonpo
  • works
    • Japan, §VI, 4(iii)(c): Ink painting in the Muromachi period: The amateur tradition