Zen Encounter: Niaoke Daolin and Bai Juyi

Legend has it that the famous Chinese poet Bai Juyi (772–846) once paid a visit to the Zen master Niaoke Daolin (741–824) and found the elderly monk sitting in a tree by a nest of magpies. The poet asked the monk about the essential meaning of the Dharma, or Buddhist teaching. The monk answered by quoting a scripture, the Precept Verse of the Seven Buddhas: “Shun all evil, perform every good.” To this, the poet exclaimed, “Even a three-year-old child knows this!” And the Zen master replied, “A three-year-old child may be able to say it, but even an 80-year-old man cannot do it.” Finally comprehending, Bai Juyi then built a Zen temple and devoted his life to Zen practice. In this painting of the famous encounter, the Japanese painter Soga Shōhaku shows a smiling Niaoke Daolin sitting high in a tree next to three magpies. The poet below, accompanied by an attendant, appears befuddled.