Dream (calligraphy) 夢 Butterfly (painted) | Daiō Sōgen 大綱宗彦 (Abbot 435) | 1772–1860 | Kansō Gitai 観宗義諦 (Abbot 461) | 1806–1867

This painting is a collaborative work by two Zen priests, both of whom served as abbots of the Daitokuji temple complex in Kyoto. The character for “dream” (夢) is often used in calligraphy. Most calligraphers use the last two strokes (メ) of the lower element (タ) to glide downward with an extended stroke—as if sinking into the depths of the dream world.

In the calligraphy of this character, however, a completely different idea comes to the fore. The lower part of the character is kept relatively wide, while the upper part is rendered with a sense of weight. A butterfly is depicted beneath the calligraphic character, and it doesn’t take much imagination to see that the calligraphy’s form is modeled after the butterfly.

What is the deeper meaning of this? There is the famous anecdote about Zhuangzi (4th century BCE), in which he recounts having dreamed that he was a butterfly. When he awoke, he was disappointed to find himself merely Zhuangzi. But then he turned the story around and told himself, “Perhaps I really am a butterfly dreaming that I am Zhuangzi…” This story was also very popular in Japan, since for the Japanese, the question of what is reality and what is illusion permeates the arts. Noh theater is fundamentally based on this concept of perceiving the world. But we also frequently encounter this dilemma of perception in poetry—in short verses as well as in epics.