Sesshū Tōyō

Timeline

1. 1420–1440Akahama, Bitchū Province (near present-day Soja, Okayama Prefecture) · Bitchū ProvinceAs a youth Sesshū became a novice monk at Hōfuku-ji (a Zen temple) in Bitchū Province (present-day Okayama Prefecture). Legend holds that when disciplined for breaking rules he was tied to a hall pillar, and the mouse he drew with his tears and toe was so lifelike that the abbot marveled and allowed him to devote himself to painting. Though embellished, the tale reflects Sesshū's early image as a prodigy.
2. c. 1440–1464Shōkoku-ji · KyotoSesshū moved to Shōkoku-ji in Kyoto, systematically studying Zen and ink painting amid the cultural atmosphere of the Gozan monasteries, and learned Song and Yuan landscape techniques from Tenshō Shūbun. From 1451 to the 1460s he extensively copied Chinese masterpieces held in the temple by Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, and others, attempting to break from conventional formulas and explore a more personal use of ink, thus laying the technical foundation for his journey to China.
3. 1467–1490Ungoku-an, Suō (present-day Yamaguchi City) · Suō ProvinceIn 1467 he arrived in China with the eleventh mission to Ming China, observing court academy painting and famous works of past dynasties at Tiantong Temple in Ningbo and in Beijing. After returning he settled at Ungoku-an in Suō, using it as a base for sketching trips to Kyūshū and San'in. National-treasure works such as Autumn and Winter Landscapes and Long Scroll of Landscapes (1486) were completed in this period, establishing the distinctive character of the 'Sesshū style'.