Scholarly Retreat Beneath Rocks and Cataracts

Rai San'yo_ was the headmaster of a Confucian academy in Kyoto in the early nineteenth century. In true literati fashion, he began painting purely for personal enjoyment. While he came into contact with many paintings from China, he developed a distinctive style of his own characterized by a bold use of the brush within rather orthodox compositions. In the inscription on this painting, San'yo_ clearly identifies himself with the literati tradition: In painting there is a difference between those of high spirit and those who seek to impress. If painting becomes fine and delicate, it will be narrow and limited. My ink-play should not be laborious. Should it ever become so, I will throw it away.