白隠慧鶴 Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769)
« back

Two Blind Men Crossing a Log Bridge
28 x 83.8 cm
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gitter-Yelen Collection

In the powerful painting Two Blind Men Crossing a Log Bridge, Hakuin depicts two figures feeling their way across a bridge over a river chasm that can be interpreted as a poignant analogy to the unenlightened seeking understanding. In order to make his religious teaching more relevant to his students, he depicted a steep ravine that was an actual site near his own rural temple of Shoin-ji at the top of the Izu peninsula in eastern Japan.

Two Blind Men Crossing a Bridge (Version 2)