Bodhidharma Facing the Wall

CHINA; Qing dynasty

This artwork was painted by Shixi, a native of Wuling, Huguang (present day Changde, Hunan). After becoming a monk, Shixi traveled to many places, painted what he saw, and developed his own distinct artistic style. He used ink freely and naturally: sometimes it looks heavy and muddy, and sometimes light and watery. The style is said to resemble a man with “unkempt clothing and disordered hair.” In his later years, Shixi lived in retreat near Zutang Temple on Youqishan, Nanjing. This painting of Bodhidharma facing the wall seems to have been inspired by his cultivation in solitude during that time.
The illustration is based on ancient sources such as the Record of Orthodox Teaching, which describes how Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple, promptly retreated to a cave, sat down, and meditated facing a wall for nine years. According to the Preface of the Collection of Chan Sources, Bodhidharma did so in order to teach a method of calming one’s mind. It is through abandoning all secular affairs and remaining still till one’s mind is as simple as a plain wall that one embarks the spiritual path.
Bodhidharma is depicted facing the blank wall of a deep mountain ravine surrounded by forest. There are mountains shrouded by fog in the distance. The landscape is painted with dark, diffuse dots that produce detailed variations of light and shade. The painting suggests a moment of time standing still, a glimpse of eternity through Chan practice.