TAKUAN SOHO

沢庵 宗彭

Died on the eleventh day of the twelfth month, 1645 at the age of seventy-three

夢

Takuan's personality was extraordinary. He was a scholar, a painter, and a poet, close to the court, and admired by rulers and common people alike, although he refused to regard anyone as his disciple, for he did not consider himself a teacher.

At the age of thirty-seven he was appointed head monk of Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. Takuan, who hated having power and authority, abandoned the temple after three days. He turned down honorary titles, and when he was invited by the shogun to serve under him, he refused. He once disobeyed the shogun and was exiled to the distant hills.

When his banishment was lifted and he was ordered to return to the city, Takuan replied that he preferred the mountains and had no desire to return to the "filthy and crowded" Edo.

Lying on his deathbed, Takuan at first refused to write a death poem. At last he gave in to the entreaties of those surrounding him, took up his brush, and drew the Chinese character for "dream," shown above. When he finished, he threw the brush down and died.

Takuan had requested beforehand that his body be burned on a mountain, that no burial service be held, and that no tombstone be put up for him.