Dharma Master Hongyi

A work of calligraphy by Hongyi, featuring the character 壽 (C: shòu, J: kotobuki)

Born: 1880
Died: 1942
Other Names: 李叔同 (Lǐ Shūtóng)
Chinese/Japanese: 弘一大師 (Hóngyī Dashi / Houichi daishi)

Dharma Master Hongyi was a prominent Chinese painter and calligrapher who trained in Meiji period Japan.

Born the son of a banker in Tianjin, he studied oil painting and music in Japan, and upon his return to China, became the first art teacher in China to use nude models in his classes. A devout Buddhist throughout his life, he gave up painting, turned to calligraphy, and took the tonsure in 1918.

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References

Gallery labels, "The Reformer's Brush: Modernity and Traditional Media in China," University of Hawaii Art Gallery, 2011.