{{no footnotes, date=October 2019 The term ''Sanpitsu'' (三筆) or "three brushes" is used in Japanese to refer to a group of three famous

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

calligraphers: *

Emperor Saga was the 52nd emperor of Japan, Emperor Saga, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign lasted from 809 to 823. Traditional narrative Saga was the second son of ...

嵯峨天皇, 786–842. *

Kūkai , born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the Vajrayana, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) und ...

空海, 774–835. *

Tachibana no Hayanari was a Heian period Japanese government official, calligrapher and member of the Tachibana family. He travelled to China in 804, returning in 806, and dying exiled in Izu Province for participation in an imperial succession controversy. His most ...

, 橘逸勢 c. 782-842. Later groups of calligraphers were named in imitation of the original Sanpitsu.

Kan'ei Sanpitsu (寛永三筆)

Named for the

Kan'ei was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and single empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./re ...

period in which they flourished: * Honami Kōetsu 本阿弥光悦, 1558-1637 *

Konoe Nobutada was a Momoyama period Japanese courtier known as a poet, calligrapher, painter and diarist. Having no legitimate son, he adopted his nephew Nobuhiro as his heir. Other names he is known by are Nobumoto (信基) and Nobusuke (信輔) in his earl ...

近衛信尹, 1565-1614 * Shōkadō Shōjō 松花堂昭乗, 1584-1639

Ōbaku no Sanpitsu (黄檗三筆)

Zen Chinese calligraphers who worked in Japan. *

Ingen Ryūki Ingen Ryūki (, ,, born , December 7, 1592 – May 19, 1673) was a Chinese poet, calligrapher, and monk of Linji Chan Buddhism from China.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ingen" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nu ...

, 隱元隆琦 1592-1673 *

Mokuan Shōtō Mu'an (; Japanese Mokuan Shōtō) (1611–1684) was a Chinese Chan monk who followed his master Ingen to Japan in 1654. Mokuan was from Chuanchow in what was then Fukien Province. He and Sokuhi Nyoitsu were the two disciples most involved in sp ...

,木庵性瑫 1611-1684 *

Sokuhi Nyoitsu was a Buddhist monk of the Ōbaku Zen sect, and was also an accomplished poet and calligrapher. His teacher Ingen Ryūki, Mokuan Shōtō and Sokuhi were together known as the "Three Brushes of Ōbaku" or Ōbaku no Sanpitsu. China Sokuhi wa ...

, 即非如一 1616-1671

Bakumatsu no Sanpitsu (幕末の三筆)

* Ichikawa Beian (市河米庵) 1779-1858 * Nukina Sūō (貫名菘翁) 1778-1863 * Maki Ryōko (巻菱湖) 1777-1843

Meiji no Sanpitsu (明治の三筆)

*Nakabayashi Gochiku (中林梧竹) 1827-1913 *Kusakabe Meikaku (日下部鳴鶴) 1838-1922 *Iwaya Ichiroku (巌谷一六) 1834-1905

Shōwa no Sanpitsu (昭和の三筆)

*Hibino Gohō (日比野五鳳) 1901-1985 *Teshima Yūkei (手島右卿) 1901-1987 *Nishikawa Yasushi (西川寧) 1902-1989

References