Daruma figures

by **Tead Off** » Apr 18th, '12, 03:06

Re: Daruma figures

by Tead Off » Apr 18th, '12, 03:06

Bodhidharma, Daruma, Dharma, are popular in Korea, too. Many paintings in the Zen tradition depict him in various ways. China, Korea, Japan, all have a tradition concerning him. This is a painting from my collection by Jung Gwang, the Mad Monk of Korea.

: Bodhidharma.jpg (126.89 KiB) Viewed 1100 times

by **Drax** » Apr 18th, '12, 07:05

Re: Daruma figures

by Drax » Apr 18th, '12, 07:05

Ooh, that's a spectacular drawing, TO! I love the mountain-like countenance... awesome.

by **Tead Off** » Apr 18th, '12, 11:42

Re: Daruma figures

by Tead Off » Apr 18th, '12, 11:42

Drax wrote:Ooh, that's a spectacular drawing, TO! I love the mountain-like countenance... awesome.

Lots of fun Dharma paintings by Jung Gwang. He had a real sense of humour.

by **gingkoseto** » Apr 20th, '12, 16:00

Re: Daruma figures

by gingkoseto » Apr 20th, '12, 16:00

The Jung Gwang's painting is fabulous! Would love to see more

By the way, is Jung Gwang same as Jung Kwang (a name I saw in googling)?

by **Tead Off** » Apr 21st, '12, 00:17

Re: Daruma figures

by Tead Off » Apr 21st, '12, 00:17

gingkoseto wrote:The Jung Gwang's painting is fabulous! Would love to see more

By the way, is Jung Gwang same as Jung Kwang (a name I saw in googling)?

Yes, different spelling. Here's another one:

: Bodhidharma unmounted.jpg (128.22 KiB) Viewed 1011 times

by **gingkoseto** » Apr 21st, '12, 11:47

Re: Daruma figures

by gingkoseto » Apr 21st, '12, 11:47

Tead Off wrote:Yes, different spelling. Here's another one:

These are great! I imagine it must be an enjoyment to watch him painting, and probably he ends the piece by painting the eyes.

by **Tead Off** » Apr 21st, '12, 13:09

Re: Daruma figures

by Tead Off » Apr 21st, '12, 13:09

He's not with us any longer. Passed away in 2002. I watched him paint several times. He would attack the paper like Zorro and in less than a minute, out popped the finished piece. I can't remember if the eyes were last. He was unconventional and thrown out of the Buddhist order that he was ordained in when he refused to give up smoking and drinking. :lol:

Today, when you mention his name to Koreans, they always smile. Never fails. He was famous and everyone knew who he was. 2 years ago, I was at a tea farm in Gorye, near Jiri Mountain. We were drinking tea with the teamaster there, a woman in her late 50's. I asked her if she knew who Jung Gwang was. She pointed at the far wall in the tea room and there was a painting of his hanging there. He used to visit her and drink tea at the same table we were sitting at on the floor.

by **gingkoseto** » Apr 21st, '12, 16:11

Re: Daruma figures

by gingkoseto » Apr 21st, '12, 16:11

Tead Off wrote:He was unconventional and thrown out of the Buddhist order that he was ordained in when he refused to give up smoking and drinking.

I like it

The Buddhist rules are not the same from place to place anyway

by **gingkoseto** » Apr 21st, '12, 16:19

Re: Daruma figures

by gingkoseto » Apr 21st, '12, 16:19

I got a gift of a daruma cloth (or towel?). The cloth is the most regular type. But the print seems quite interesting. I guess it's about various traditional daruma dolls in different places of Japan (saw a bunch of place names there).

Full images are here:
http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq70/gingkoheight/P1120615.jpg
http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq70/gingkoheight/P1120613.jpg
http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq70/gingkoheight/P1120612.jpg

I think I saw (by guessing from the text) a bunch of "female daruma", "fox daruma" and a daruma holding a baby! They are so cute! And a huge contrast with the typical "man daruma"

by **Drax** » Apr 21st, '12, 19:59

Re: Daruma figures

by Drax » Apr 21st, '12, 19:59

Wow, that's a great collection of different styles of daruma... I'd love to see something like that in book form with a description of the history of the different styles, that's really neat!

It does look like a bunch of names, probably of cities. One of the larger banners says "nihon zenkoku" (or "all of Japan").

Hrm, it looks like a lot of them have orange vertical (curved) stripes, or some variation. Any idea if those represent anything? (other than folds in the robe, or something like that)

by **Chip** » Apr 21st, '12, 20:44

Re: Daruma figures

by Chip » Apr 21st, '12, 20:44

Tead Off wrote:He's not with us any longer. Passed away in 2002. I watched him paint several times. He would attack the paper like Zorro and in less than a minute, out popped the finished piece. I can't remember if the eyes were last. He was unconventional and thrown out of the Buddhist order that he was ordained in when he refused to give up smoking and drinking.
Today, when you mention his name to Koreans, they always smile. Never fails. He was famous and everyone knew who he was. 2 years ago, I was at a tea farm in Gorye, near Jiri Mountain. We were drinking tea with the teamaster there, a woman in her late 50's. I asked her if she knew who Jung Gwang was. She pointed at the far wall in the tea room and there was a painting of his hanging there. He used to visit her and drink tea at the same table we were sitting at on the floor.

... maybe one day, she will sit with someone and say, "Tead Off sat where you are sitting, and we shared tea." :mrgreen:

by **Tead Off** » Apr 21st, '12, 22:58

Re: Daruma figures

by Tead Off » Apr 21st, '12, 22:58

Chip wrote:
Tead Off wrote:He's not with us any longer. Passed away in 2002. I watched him paint several times. He would attack the paper like Zorro and in less than a minute, out popped the finished piece. I can't remember if the eyes were last. He was unconventional and thrown out of the Buddhist order that he was ordained in when he refused to give up smoking and drinking.
Today, when you mention his name to Koreans, they always smile. Never fails. He was famous and everyone knew who he was. 2 years ago, I was at a tea farm in Gorye, near Jiri Mountain. We were drinking tea with the teamaster there, a woman in her late 50's. I asked her if she knew who Jung Gwang was. She pointed at the far wall in the tea room and there was a painting of his hanging there. He used to visit her and drink tea at the same table we were sitting at on the floor.

... maybe one day, she will sit with someone and say, "Tead Off sat where you are sitting, and we shared tea."

by **Takarabune** » Aug 26th, '12, 20:46

Re: Daruma figures

by Takarabune » Aug 26th, '12, 20:46

First off, loving this thread! Secondly, here's my antique kashigata (Japanese sweet mold).

by **tinols** » Aug 26th, '12, 21:49

Re: Daruma figures

by tinols » Aug 26th, '12, 21:49

When I took 3 yrs of Japanese back in high school, each year, the whole class had one daruma doll. We would discuss what our goals were and write them on the back of the doll and then fill one eye with a black marker, then fill the other eye ones the goals' reached(end of the year). Our sensei said that if the goals weren't reached and if it's too late to reach it, then the daruma doll had to be set on fire... I forget why. Very neat little figures! I like how it stands up by itself even if you make it fall over.

by **Drax** » Aug 27th, '12, 06:14

Re: Daruma figures

by Drax » Aug 27th, '12, 06:14

Takarabune wrote:here's my antique kashigata (Japanese sweet mold).

Oooh, very neat! Do you actually make any sweets with the mold, or is it for display only?

So tinols, did you end up with a double-eyed daruma, or a piece of charcoal? :lol: