Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en
Ink on paper
Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en (detail)
尺牘 無準師範
中國
此為南宋（1127～1279）禪師無準師範寄與其日本弟子圓爾弁圓禪師的書信。事情緣起於圓爾弁圓曾捐贈修整徑山（今浙江餘杭）興聖萬壽寺之木材，但由於種種原因，無準師範並未能第一時間全數收訖，故於信中詳細交代木材收取狀況，文末還對曾入宋求法、今已歸國的圓爾弁圓多所期許，可見兩人情感之親厚。信函無年款，推測是南宋淳祐二年（1242）萬壽寺火災後翌年所書。一九五二年指定為日本國寶。
此書用筆清簡，雖見草字，宛如謀定而後動般地不浪費一點筆墨，故整體章法給人一種疏朗又乾淨的氣氛；細察其點畫，往往清臞不腴，宛見其人的清白耿直。
無準師範為南宋臨濟宗禪師，御賜「佛鑑圓照禪師」。主法徑山二十餘年，禪風鼎盛，門人眾多，對日本禪宗影響極大。
參考釋文：師範和南手白／日本承天堂頭長老維時隆／暑緬惟／道體安隱去秋初能上人來收／書且知住持有況老懷慰喜又／荷遠念山門興復重大特化千枚／為助良感道義不謂巨舟之來為／風濤所鼓其同宗者多有所失／此舟幸得泊華亭又以／朝廷以為內地不許抽解維持一年／方得遂意今到華亭已領五百／三十片其三百三十片尚在慶元／未得入手餘乙百四十片別舡未到／且留能上人在此少住後見數目／分曉卻津發其歸方得作書／致謝／綱使謝丈大檀越也嘗聞／日本教律甚盛而禪宗未振今／長老既能竪立此宗當一一依從上／佛祖所行無有不殊勝矣便中／略此布復未及詳具餘宜／為大法多多珍愛是祝師範和／南手白
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy, page 122.
Cite this article:
Hsingyun, et al. "Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy , vol. 17, 2016, pp. 122.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Stefanie Pokorski, Mankuang, and Gary Edson. 2016. "Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy , 17:122.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Pokorski, S., Mankuang, & Edson, G.. (2016). Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy (Vol. 17, pp. 122).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Edson, Gary,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy },
pages = 122,
title = {{Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en}},
volume = 17,
year = {2016}}
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Edson, Gary,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Calligraphy },
pages = 122,
title = {{Letter from Master Wuzhun Shifan to Enni Ben’en}},
volume = 17,
year = {2016}}