Feng Zizhen

CHINA, Hunan; Yuan dynasty

Feng Zizhen, also known as Haisu, was a calligrapher, scholar, and official. A distinguished scholar of Chan, he engaged in discreet exchanges with Chan masters such as Gulin Qingmao and Zhongfeng Mingben. His skills in calligraphy earned him a reputation equal to that of Zhao Mengfu, another renowned artist of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Feng’s calligraphic style was considered grandiose and unrestrained. Many of the Japanese monks who studied under Chan Master Zhongfeng Mingben in China returned to Japan with Feng’s calligraphic works, an example of which is Poems Dedicated to Muin Genkai, kept at the Tokyo National Museum in Japan. This piece is listed as a National Treasure of Japan.