Ink Drawing of the Buddha at Birth

Jakutan Shunryū (1797-1869) was a Sōtō Zen monk of the late Edo period and early Meiji era. He was also known as Dokusondōjin. In Tenpō 12 (1841), he succeeded to Fūgai Honkō and became the 26th head of Kōjakuji Temple in Mikawa Province, and in Kaei 6 (1853), he succeeded to Kyokai Tōryū and became the 23rd resident priest of Gōtokuji Temple in Musashi Province. Gōtokuji Temple is the family temple of the Ii clan, and at the time of the Sakuradamon Incident (1860), it held the funeral service for Ii Naosuke,one of the greatest officials in the Tokugawa shōgunate and he was murdered at the Sakuradamon Incident. In Bunkyū 1 (1861), he became the 25th resident priest of Seiryōji Temple in Ōmi Province, which is also the family temple of the Ii clan.

Along with Fūgai Honkō, Kyokai Tōryū, and others, he was a Zen monk who excelled in calligraphy and painting, representing the last days of the Tokugawa shōgunate, and excelled at depicting paintings of Buddhist patriarchs including Śākyamuni Buddha and landscapes.

This painting depicts the birth of Buddha Śākyamuni. The inscription indicates that it was painted in Meiji 2 (1869).