Wang Zhen (1867–1938)
Nine years facing the wall

According to legend, Bodhidharma achieved Enlightenment after spending nine years staring at a blank wall. This empathy with the Buddhist ideal is alluded to in the inscription on the right by the well-known Beijing intellectual of the time, Cai Yuanpei. The scroll is signed ‘Bailong shanren’ (white dragon hermit) and the poem, by Wang, is an ode to Bodhidharma:

Nine years facing the wall,
Shadow impressed on stone;
To move is not so good
As it is to be stationary.