Calligraphy 雲門云日々是好日 "Cloud Gate says: Every day is a good day" | Jiun Onkō 慈雲飲光 | 1718-1804

Jiun Onkō is probably one of the most renowned calligraphers today (which is also reflected in his market value). There is a magnificent publication "慈雲尊者　心の書 Priest Jiun", ed. Yomiuri Shinbun, Osaka 2004, which was published on the occasion of his 200th anniversary of death and makes a significant selection of his calligraphies accessible. The scriptwork on page 75 of this book features exactly the same text as the present calligraphy. Both are characterized by a bristliness in the brushwork, which is the hallmark of this calligrapher; these are not elegant scripts, but eruptions of spirit.

The often-calligraphed maxim (which is meant to become a life motto that is not easy to implement): "Day by day is just a day I like" is here expanded at the beginning by the words "The Cloud Gate says".

"Cloud Gate" is the name of one of the Five Chinese Zen Schools, founded in the 10th century by Yunmen Wenyan. Its characteristic is the intensive use of Kōans, i.e., those illogical sayings that help the meditator to overcome discursivity - which is the most important goal of Zen meditation.

However, this is only one meaning of "Cloud Gate"; the other could poetically simply mean "breakthrough to true enlightenment". From a graphic point of view, the second character, that for "Gate" 門, is so strongly modified that it only looks like a wisp of cloud つ. The first, actually quite complicated character for cloud 雲, is also extremely simplified. Thus, it seems that the priest-calligrapher probably aimed more at the poetic meaning variant in this calligraphy.

However, the third character for "say" 云 is very clearly formulated, which again brings the first interpretation of the term, i.e., the name of a Zen school, into play... It is certainly conceivable that the intelligent priest wanted to combine both aspects of "Cloud Gate" in his calligraphic work.