National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Bunhakujin (1502 to 1575) was a nephew of Bun Chomei, a leading artist of the Woo school of bunjinga (literati painting) in Suzhou (Wuxian, Chiangsu Province) during the Ming period and was regarded as the best painter in the Bun family. A common motif in the paintings by Bun Chomei and the painters in his family was a bunjin (literary man) strolling in a garden with a grove and a pond. Their sansuiga (landscape painting) featured a clean, plain and neat hakubyo (paintings in monochromatic ink) style or a light color-based colorful style, breaking new ground in bunjinga. This set of paintings is the best of the Go school in the Kasei period (1522-66). Shimansansuizu is the collective name given to the following four paintings: Bangakusyofu, Bankanenu, Bankeiseiha and Banzanhisetu. Each painting depicts a bunjin (literary man) appreciating quiet, private time and demonstrates Bunhakujin's exquisite, detailed brushwork in monochromatic ink, which used to be characterized as "clean and powerful." Bunhakujin drew these pictures for his friend Gojugi at the age of 50. Each painting bears a legend by Tokisho, a bunjin representing the literary and artistic world of the late Ming period.