Zen Encounter: Niaoke Daolin and Bai Juyi

Soga Shōhaku, second half 18th century

Download free · 1725 × 4000px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Soga Shōhaku (Japanese, 1730–1781)
Medium: Hanging scroll, ink on silk
Size: 45 1/2 × 19 3/4 in. (115.57 × 50.17 cm) (image); 83 3/8 × 25 7/8 in. (211.77 × 65.72 cm) (without roller)
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rights: Public Domain Mark

Legend has it that the famous Chinese poet Bai Juyi (772–846) once paid a visit to the Zen master Niaoke Daolin (741–824) and found the elderly monk sitting in a tree by a nest of magpies. The poet asked the monk about the essential meaning of the Dharma, or Buddhist teaching. The monk answered by quoting a scripture, the Precept Verse of the Seven Buddhas: “Shun all evil, perform every good.” To this, the poet exclaimed, “Even a three-year-old child knows this!”

And the Zen master replied, “A three-year-old child may be able to say it, but even an 80-year-old man cannot do it.” Finally comprehending, Bai Juyi then built a Zen temple and devoted his life to Zen practice. In this painting of the famous encounter, the Japanese painter Soga Shōhaku shows a smiling Niaoke Daolin sitting high in a tree next to three magpies. The poet below, accompanied by an attendant, appears befuddled.

Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.