Plaques and Placard Characters for a Zen Temple

Great Characters Sent from Song China for a Zen Temple

The Plaques and Placard Characters for a Zen Temple (禅院額字并牌字) is nineteen Southern Song scrolls of plaque and placard characters for a Zen temple, owned by Tofukuji in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, which in 1974 were designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records nineteen hanging scrolls owned by Tofukuji.

According to the Agency, they were sent from Mount Jing by the eminent Song monk Wuzhun Shifan (died 1249) to his disciple Enni (Shoichi Kokushi, 1202 to 1280), founder of Tofukuji, when Enni was building Jotenji in Hakata.

The Scrolls

According to the Agency, they passed to Tofukuji when Enni moved there.

Of the nineteen, two plaque inscriptions and five placards are in Wuzhun's hand, and twelve plaque inscriptions are by the celebrated Song calligrapher Zhang Jizhi.

What to Look For

The Agency values them especially as representative large-character calligraphy of Southern Song Zen monasteries and as a complete set of temple plaques and placards.

They also document how a Chinese master sent the plaques for a Japanese Zen temple at the start of Zen in Japan.

Visiting the Plaques and Placard Characters for a Zen Temple

The scrolls are owned by Tofukuji and are not always on display; watch for exhibition announcements.