Sokuhi Nyoitsu
The Brush of Enlightenment Sokuhi Nyoitsu, also known by his Chinese name Jifei Ruyi, was far more than a mere painter; he was a profound figure of the seventeenth century, a Buddhist monk of the Ōb) sect whose life and spirit were inextricably linked to the flow of ink and the discipline of Zen. Born in Fuzhou, Fujian, in Southeast China, he emerged from a declining Confucian scholar gentry family of the Chen clan. His early path was shaped by spiritual devotion, having been ordained at the age of seventeen by Feiyin Tongrong. This foundation of monastic rigor would later define his approac…
The Subject Atlas
A chart of Sokuhi Nyoitsu's corpus mapped not by date but by subject. Spokes are what they painted; rings are when; and the threads between stars reveal the patrons and places that secretly connect them.
Spokes — Subject
Each arm of the atlas gathers works by what they depict: portraits, sacred scenes, mythologies, and the scientific studies. Click a spoke to swing that cluster to the top.
Rings — Career Period
Distance from the center marks time. The innermost ring is the earliest period; the outermost, the final years. Style matures as you move outward.
Threads — Shared Context
Coloured lines link works bound by the same patron, commission, or theme. Trace a context to watch related clusters light up across subjects.