Mu’an Xingtao

CHINA, Fujian, Quanzhou; Ming to Qing dynasty

Mu’an Xingtao, commonly known in Japan as Mokuan Shoto, had an original name of Wu Tao and was born in Jinjiang, Quanzhou. He was a Chan master, calligrapher, and painter who studied Buddhism under Feiying Tongrong before he became a disciple of Chan Master Yinyuan Longyi. He followed Master Yinyuan to Japan and eventually succeeded him as the Second Patriarch of the Obaku school.
Master Mu’an specialized in regular and running script calligraphy, and his style was modeled after that of Zhao Mengfu. Together with Jifei Ruyi and Yinyuan Longqi, he was renowned as one of the Three Brushes of Obaku. The three calligraphers imparted a tremendous impact on the calligraphic history of Japan, as can be seen by the many horizontal inscribed boards and couplets in Manpukuji Temple that were penned by them. Master Mu’an was also skilled in the painting of flowers, pine, bamboo, and landscapes, and his paintings display a gentle, scholastic style, coupled with the simplicity of a Chan monk.
Calligraphic works by Master Mu’an include Characters - Pinching Gautama’s Nose, kept at the Ho’s Calligraphy Foundation in Taipei, Taiwan; and Poem for Tetsugyu on His 50th Birthday, at Jojuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.