Various Ōbaku Zen Monks (17/18th century), Calligraphy in Running Script

This set of three hanging scrolls features calligraphy in running script by several prominent Ōbaku Zen monks from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a period of significant cultural exchange between China and Japan. Executed in ink on paper, the works exemplify the dynamic brushwork and spiritual refinement characteristic of Chan/Zen Buddhist calligraphy traditions. The Ōbaku school, which emphasized both artistic expression and meditative practice, produced some of the most accomplished calligraphers of the early modern period, and these scrolls represent that lineage's commitment to using the written word as a vehicle for enlightenment.