Muqi Fachang

Who was Muqi Fachang?

Muqi Fachang, also known as Mu Qi Fachang, was a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk and painter who lived in the 13th century, around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. His surname is thought to be Xue; Muqi was a hao or pseudonym, and Fachang a monastic name.

Muqi was perhaps from the city of Kaifeng in Hunan Province or possibly Sichuan. A painting bears the inscription "monk from Shu." He originally studied at the Wan-nian Monastery on Mt. Wutai. Muqi was doubtlessly drawn to the beauty of West Lake in Hangzhou and refounded the abandoned monastery, Liutong Temple there in 1215. He is said to have been the disciple of his abbot Wuzhun Shifan and the painter Liang Kai. His works are considered among the most expressive of the Chán style of painting.

Important works generally attributed to Mu Qi: presently in the Daitoku-ji in Kyoto are a triptych of Guan Yin flanked by a monkey family on one side and a crane on the other; Tiger; Dragon; and the much-reproduced Six Persimmons. Other works sometimes attributed to Mu Qi or as being "in the style of Mu Qi" include various nature studies and a Luohan painting in the Seikado Museum.