Former Chief Abbott Jien

With no exceptions, the fourth print I will make during every one of the ten years' work on this series, is a 'man of the cloth'. I never quite know what word to use to describe these men when writing about them in English; priest, monk, minister, abbot, cleric ... The various books I consult seem to pick from these words at random. Our poet this month is generally known as the 'Former Chief Abbot Jien', and lived in the 12~13th centuries. He was quite an important man of his day, and at the relatively young age of thirty he joined the famous temple atop Mt. Hiei, near Kyoto. This poem was apparently written on that occasion.

Once or twice a month as I sit in my quiet workshop carving these prints, I hear the doorbell ring and answer it to find standing there a small group of very carefully dressed ladies all clutching pamphlets. I'm sure you've seen them too - Christian proselytizers. When they see me open the door, their faces usually brighten up visibly; in their minds 'foreigner' means 'Christian', and they probably think they have a good chance of getting a new member for their church. Their pleasure is short-lived though, as I dislike intensly salesmen of all types who disturb the privacy of my home simply to promote their own interests (unlike legitimate guests, whom I welcome anytime ...), and I am usually quite 'short' with them.

Am I a Christian? No, not at all. I understand that sometime shortly after I was born, my parents took me to a local church and had me baptized, but I am sure they only did that because of current social customs, and not with any real sense of religious belief. I carry with me now, no belief at all in any kind of 'supreme being', and see myself as one member of this naturally evolved 'animal' species living in a completely neutral universe. Concepts that we have of life's 'meaning', of morals, or of ethics, are things created entirely in our own minds. And of course, I am quite sure that when I die, that will be the end of everything for me, although I would like to think that some trace of my accomplishments could remain behind.

Aren't I thus behaving hypocritically though, making this print of a man to whom religion presumably meant quite a lot, sending it out to you, and accepting payment in return? I don't feel so. If say, a local church group approached me and asked me to use my printmaking skills to make a poster to advertise their church, I would politely decline their request; I feel that that would be hypocritical. But I think that the general historical and cultural aspects of this 'Hyaku-nin Isshu' theme quite outweigh the particular detail that some of the members of the group held strong religious beliefs.

A few years ago, one of the collectors of these prints asked me to stop sending them. She was a Christian, and the minister of her church had become upset that she was collecting prints that depicted Buddhists ... It seems to me he was rather small-minded. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I like to think that the men and women depicted in these prints would be quite tolerant of the fact that a 'heathen' is carving their pictures ...

Anyway, good-bye for now ... (Oops! Perhaps I shouldn't use that word 'good-bye' - it actually means 'God be with you'!)

July 1996