Zen Riddle Calligraphy Scroll, Do You Know For Whom The Flowers Bloom In Spring?

This Zen riddle calligraphy shows the Zen words

‘For whom do all the flowers blossom in spring?’,

a verse taken from the fifth case of the Zen koan collection of the Blue Cliff Record.

With this verse ‘When spring arrives, for whom do a hundred flowers bloom? the Chinese Zen master Hsueh Tou once more beats the Dharma drum, inviting one to look and See?

Japanese calligraphy brushed on raw xuan rice paper.

Cursive script
Size of the hanging scroll: 81.5 x 18.5; 207 x 47 cm

This Zen saying calligraphy is mounted on a soft green silken scroll with a fine pattern and a natural wooden roller at the bottom.

If you would like to buy a print of this Zen riddle calligraphy ‘Tell Me : For Whom Do All The Flowers Blossom In Spring ?’, click here.

Every year you witness this miracle again; hundreds of flowers bloom, thousands of colors brighten the earth, sweet fragrances permeate the air and a tapestry of unique beauty covers the world, for whom? Do you See?

In one of his commentaries in his translation of the Diamond Sutra, Red Pine mentions that in this world the Buddha teaches through names whereas in other worlds the fragrance of flowers is used. Perhaps Buddha is teaching right now here with flowers?

When I read this Zen saying for the first time, I was very enthusiastic and decided to brush this verse.

I have deliberately chosen a very cursive style, as this style embodies dynamism more than other styles of Japanese calligraphy. I wanted to evoke this outburst of life, forms, colors and fragrances.

The seven kanji of this Zen riddle calligraphy scroll are :

百 hundred
花 flower
春 spring
為 do
到 come
誰 who
開 bloom

A print of this Zen saying calligraphy For Whom Do All The Flowers Blossom In Spring ? is available at my prints gallery.

Related pages featuring Zen Calligraphy and Painting