Mountain Wandering

During the 18th and 19th centuries some Japanese artists cultivated the lifestyle and art forms of Chinese scholar-artists (literati). Literati culture, introduced to Japan by Chinese monks, inspired the Japanese painters to emulate the Chinese scholars by immersing themselves in literature, philosophy, nature and ink painting.

Fūgai Honkō, a Zen monk and artist, expresses a belief in the restorative power of nature in this ink painting. The painting invites viewers to take a spirit journey in nature with the walking scholar, from the cliff in front to a thatched hut across the shore, and the mountains beyond. The lone figure walking in the wilderness is a recurring theme in Chinese and Japanese painting. These images represent the learned gentleman's rejection of worldly affairs in favor of leading an hermitic life of self-cultivation and devotion to nature.