Chinese reading: Zhi bai shou hei. ‘Knowing the light, preserving the dark’. Quotation from chapter 28 of the 'Daodejing' by the Daoist philosopher Laozi. Calligraphy in clerical (reisho) style by Kogi Taihō 小木太法 (1923-2012).
Copy of the Mahayana Buddhist text the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya or 'Heart Sutra'. Calligraphy in regular (kaisho) style by Miyamoto Chikkei 宮本竹逕 (1926-2002). Colophon dated Heisei 7 [1995]: 平成七年十二月三十日午后四時終.
Chinese reading : Shan hu wan sui sheng. ‘Mountains echoing the cries of ten thousand years’. Calligraphy in cursive (sōsho) style by Moritoki Taiyū 守時大融 (1920-).
Tabi ni yande yume wa kareno o kakemeguru 旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけめぐる
Scope & Content:
‘Taken ill on a journey ill; my dream goes wandering over withered fields’. Haiku composed on his death-bed by Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694). Mixed kanji/kana calligraphy by Nakai Shirō 中井史朗 (1916-2009).