Artworks

Crane, Kannon and Monkey

Artwork · Mu Qi · 13th century · kakemono · Daitoku-ji Temple

A triptych by the Chinese monk-painter Mu Qi: a white-robed Kannon flanked by a crane striding out of a bamboo grove and a monkey on a dead branch hugging her baby. The crane, the Chinese symbol of a Daoist immortal, stands for the independent spirit that has reached satori; the monkey for the soul still tied to worldly concerns. Kept at Daitokuji, it had an enormous influence on Japanese ink painting. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 222–223, fig. 256. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.