Calligraphy of Ch'an and Zen Monks

Abstract

Although a dependence on words and letters was avoided in the concepts of their sect, the Ch’an and Zen monks produced a prodigious amount of written material, in book form and in handwritten documents. Believed to express the total personality of the writer, the calligraphy (bokuseki) acquired a kind of mystique. The highly personal calligraphy was not as strong an influence in China as in Japan, where it established the standard for excellence and was extensively emulated in secular society. Representative examples are shown and discussed.