The boys depicted in this scene are like any children you might see in a classroom today. There’s the one who’s distracted by the mice in the corner, the one who’s pretending to study but is doodling instead, the one who’s sleeping, and the one who’s drawing on the sleeping boy’s face. The more you look, the more fun it is. You can almost hear their lively voices.
In the middle, a dog appears. Puppies sit together with babies, and if you look at them long enough you might begin to believe that they’re thinking the same things. One part that really draws the eye is the image of the boys working together to make a painting, and the puppy who has stolen the brush and is playing with it. There’s an obvious contrast between the puppies and the children here. The head priest says there may be meaning in that distinction, too.
Muryōji is a Zen Buddhist temple, and Zen Buddhism has a training called “zenmōdo,” in which monks take years to think of answers to philosophical questions posed to them by their masters. One of the first questions asked is known as “Zhaozhou’s dog.”
It is said that a monk named Zhaozhou told his apprentice monks, “You all believe that you have the Buddha nature inside of you, which will allow you to one day become Buddhas. That’s why you look inside yourselves in training every day. Well, then, does this dog also have the Buddha nature?” The aim of the question of “Zhaozhou’s Dog” is not just to think about whether or not the dog has the Buddha nature, but what it means to lack the Buddha nature.
Without knowing about Zen, you might just think the dogs are cute. But the head priest at Muryōji, who has spent many years training in Zen, came to realize that perhaps the question of Zhaozhou’s dog has been subtly inserted here. Perhaps Rosetsu, who himself had practiced Zen Buddhism, believed that followers of the religion would catch on to this hint. Along a similar vein, there are probably far more ideas built into these paintings than we could ever think of.
Take a look at the child painted on the far left. He looks like he’s running off somewhere, but actually he’s going to heaven, a thought that gives this painting a melancholy feeling. Some people think that he represents Rosetsu’s own child, who died in the womb before his arrival at Muryōji. Since this is a temple, he may have thought to hold a small memorial for his son by including him in a fusuma painting.
If the tiger and the tabby cat go hand in hand, what’s on the other side of the dragon? It’s natural to start to wonder about that.
In fact, on the other side of the dragon is another dragon hidden among the playing boys. We’ll let you try to find it, but here’s a hint: the dragon is personified as water.
Look for an item in this painting that has something to do with water, like a vase with a dragon wrapped around it, or a water jug. Each of the water containers have been painted with jagged lines. Such a technique might also be indicative of Rosetsu’s mischievous side.
By the way, when famous twentieth-century abstract artist Tarō Okamoto saw this painting, he said, with tears streaking down his cheeks, “It’s very detailed and has a lot going on in it. Someone who’s good at painting could take their time and make the same thing, but as an artist, I can tell how quickly this was painted. It’s amazing how rapidly he must have done all of this. There’s a difference between being skillful and being amazing. Rosetsu was amazing.”