Zenga
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Zenga 禅画 ("zen picture") is the term for the practice and art of Zen Buddhist painting and calligraphy in the Japanese tea ceremony and also the martial arts.
Definition[]
As a noun, Zenga is a style of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy and painting, done in ink. In many instances, both calligraphy and image will be in the same piece. The calligraphy denotes a poem, or saying, that teaches some element of the true path of Zen. The brush painting is characteristically simple, bold and abstract.
History[]
Though Zen Buddhism had arrived in Japan at the end of the 12th-century, Zenga (as here described) didn't come into its own until the beginning of the Edo period in 1600.
Subject matter[]
In keeping with individual paths to enlightenment, nearly any subject matter can lend (and has lent) itself to Zenga. Everything from a cat, to a bamboo shoot, to a man defecating in a field has been used to illustrate a particular point - although enso, sticks and Mount Fuji are the most common elements.
See also[]
- Chinese ink and brush painting
- Japanese tea ceremony
- Japanese calligraphy
- Zenga
- Chadō
- Zen
- Zen stubs