''Bokuseki'' (墨跡) is a Japanese term meaning “ink trace”, and refers to a form of Japanese calligraphy (''
shodō
, also called , is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Japanese writing system, Written Japanese was originally based on Man'yōgana, Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japane ...
'') and more specifically a style of ''
zenga'' developed by
Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
monks.
''Bokuseki'' is often characterized by bold, assertive, and often abstract brush strokes meant to demonstrate the calligrapher’s pure state of mind (see ''
Samadhi
Statue of a meditating Rishikesh.html" ;"title="Shiva, Rishikesh">Shiva, Rishikesh
''Samādhi'' (Pali and ), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivati ...
''). The aim in making ''Bokuseki'' is to represent one’s single-moment awareness by brushing each word or passage with a single breath, ultimately realizing Zen and manifesting one’s ''
zazen
''Zazen'' is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.
The generalized Japanese term for meditation is 瞑想 (''meisō''); however, ''zazen'' has been used informally to include all forms ...
'' practice into physical and artistic action. Fundamentally ''bokuseki'' is a reflection of one’s spontaneous action (see:
Buddha-nature
In Buddhist philosophy and soteriology, Buddha-nature ( Chinese: , Japanese: , , Sanskrit: ) is the innate potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all sentient beings already have a pure Buddha-essence within ...
, ''
katsu'') free from one’s superficial or
rationally oriented mind.
Gallery
See also
*
Japanese calligraphy
, also called , is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Japanese writing system, Written Japanese was originally based on Man'yōgana, Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japane ...
**''
Zenga''
**''
Hitsuzendō
is believed by Zen Buddhism, Zen Buddhists to be a method of achieving samādhi (Japanese: 三昧 ''sanmai''), which is a unification with the highest reality. Hitsuzendo refers specifically to a school of Japanese Zen calligraphy to which the r ...
''
External links
East Asian calligraphy
Japanese calligraphy
Zenga
Japanese art
Zen art and culture
Buddhism in the Edo period
History of art in Japan
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ja:日本の書流#唐様