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

Kanzan (Ch: Hanshan) and Jittoku (Ch: Shide) were eccentric monks in the Tang period who were regarded as incarnations of Fugen and Monju Bodhisattvas. Their unconventional appearances were often painted as a pair by monks in Zen temples in China and Japan. Usually, Kanzan is painted with a scroll in his hand, and Jittoku with a broom in his.
In this piece, the two figures are painted as standing one in front of the other in one picture, not in two pictures separately. Also, the figures have rather large heads and small bodies. These two features are rarely seen in paintings of them.

Shunnoku Sōen (1529–1611), who wrote the praise, was a Zen monk from the Daitoku-ji school. He succeeded the Dharma from Shourei Soukin and became the chief priest of Daitoku-ji Temple (the 111th) in Eiroku 12 (1569). After that, he received devotions from Ishida Mitsunari and others, and opened a tacchū (a small temple) called Sangen-in in the mountain of the main temple. He is known for his friendship with tea masters including Sennorikyū and Tsuda Sougyū.