Taizo-in: The Gourd-Catfish Riddle and the Harmony of Stones

Why is it significant?

Enter the peaceful gate of Taizo-in, the most celebrated subtemple of the immense Myoshin-ji Zen monastery. Stroll into the Abbot's quarters and step before a replica of Japan's most famous Zen riddle artwork: the Hyonen-zu, or Catching a Catfish with a Gourd.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Enter the peaceful gate of Taizo-in, the most celebrated subtemple of the immense Myoshin-ji Zen monastery. Stroll into the Abbot's quarters and step before a replica of Japan's most famous Zen riddle artwork: the Hyonen-zu, or Catching a Catfish with a Gourd. Painted around fourteen thirteen by the monk-artist Josetsu on the commission of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi, this National Treasure hanging scroll depicts an eccentric man attempting to pin down a slippery catfish using a round, smooth gourd. The subtle ink tones capture a playful yet profound paradox that has captivated philosophers for six centuries.

The painting illustrates an impossible Zen koan, or philosophical paradox: how does one grasp the slippery, elusive nature of the mind using an instrument as smooth and clumsy as human language? Thirty-one eminent Zen monks from Kyoto's Five Mountain monasteries inscribed their own poetic answers above the painting, turning the artwork into a brilliant fifteenth-century philosophical symposium that challenged conventional logic and dogma.

Step out onto the wooden veranda to admire the Motonobu-no-Niwa, a dry landscape garden created in the sixteenth century by Kano Motonobu, the legendary patriarch of the Kano painting school. Motonobu translated his family's signature ink-wash landscape brushstrokes into physical stone and evergreen foliage, creating a timeless garden that retains its perfect green composition throughout all four seasons without fading.

Wander further into the Yoko-en garden to hear the ethereal, bell-like musical drops echoing from a suikinkutsu water harp buried beneath the stepping stones, resonating from deep inside an inverted ceramic jug. Lean down toward the bamboo listening tube to let the crystalline notes echo in your ears like delicate silver chimes.

Walk eastward through the peaceful cobblestone lanes of the monastery to conclude your journey at the grand Hatto hall of Myoshin-ji.