Rubbing

One of a set of four copies of a poem by the Japanese Zen monk, Ikkyū Sōjun 一休宗純 (1394-1481 CE) from his Crazy Cloud Anthology (狂雲集). The poem praises the monk Honen 法然,(1133 - 1212 CE) who Ikkyu sees as a great reformer of Buddhism. He also references Honen's ichimai-kishomon (一枚起請文) or "One Sheet Document" which says that by reciting the nembutsu (repeating the name of the Amida Buddha) one can be born in the Pure Land. This means that salvation can be attained by declaration of faith alone, with no need for intellectual effort or reflection. The calligraphy is in caoshu a type of cursive script which stylizes the characters by reducing the number of strokes for each and has no rules for spacing or size. The calligraphic hand and the location of the original stele from which the rubbing was taken have not been identified.

The text is a rhyming Chinese poem in four-line seven-syllable meter, plus a signature line:

傳聞法然生如來

安座蓮華上品臺

尼入道同無智輩

一枚起請最奇哉

前大德一休叟

The translation reads: "Tradition holds that Hōnen was a living Buddha, Seated on the highest Lotus Throne.

For nuns and novices, and all the ignorant, The One Page Document is the most wonderful thing." The Venerable Ikkyū of Daitoku-ji [temple].