Rabbit and Roses

Painting by Mori Ransai Japanese
 Inscription by Jiun Onkō Japanese

Not on view

A rabbit crouches by a boulder and a rose bush with vibrant leaves and blossoms. Mori Ransai’s polychrome technique belongs to a tradition established by the Chinese painter Shen Nanpin (active 1725–80) in Nagasaki. The inscription, brushed by the Shingon monk Jiun Onkō, echoes a Zen teaching that asserts that all beings, including inanimate objects, can reach enlightenment. It reads:

有情非情同時成道ときけばげに
うれしくもあるがか 法の友どち

I’m truly delighted to hear it said that “Sentient beings or insentient beings, at the same time, can attain the Way [of spiritual enlightenment],” for those that pursue the Buddhist law together.

Rabbit and Roses, Painting by Mori Ransai (Japanese, 1731–1801), Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan

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Rabbit and Roses, Painting by Mori Ransai (Japanese, 1731–1801), Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Rabbit and Roses, Painting by Mori Ransai (Japanese, 1731–1801), Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan

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