Hanshan and Shide

Hanshan (Jp. Kanzan) and Shide (Jp. Jittoku) are a pair of Chinese Chan (Jp. Zen) Buddhist monks who lived in Guoqing temple on Mount Tiantai in eastern China. The pair were known as eccentrics, often acting peculiarly, such as yelling or laughing suddenly. Their strangeness is reflected in their hairstyles, which were appropriate for children but not for grown men. After their deaths, Chan Buddhists considered them the incarnation of bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī (Jp. Monju) and Samantabhadra (Jp. Fugen), the guardians of wisdom and practice, respectively.

In this painting, which was originally mounted as a fan, Shide grinds ink on a rock while Hanshan brushes a few lines onto the side of a tree. According to legend, after the pair mysteriously disappeared, Hanshan was believed to have left poems on rocks and trees.