chōka 鳥窠

Ch: Niaoke. Lit. bird's nest. A painting subject depicting the Tang dynasty eccentric priest Dōrin 道林 (Ch: Daolin), also called Chōka Zenji 鳥窠禅師 (Ch: Niaoke Chanshi), Zen master bird's nest, because he often sat atop a tall pine tree. Near Chōka's pine roost at the Hōrinzenji 鳳林禅寺 (Ch: Fenglinchansi) in Hangzhou 杭州, a magpie built a nest, and thus Chōka also acquired the sobriquet Shaku oshō 鵲和尚 (priest Magpie). It is reported that the great Tang poet Bai Letian (Jp: *Haku Rakuten 白楽天) once held a dialogue with Chōka while the latter was seated atop his tree. There are well-known paintings of the subject by Sesshū 雪舟 (1420-1506), Shōkei 祥啓 (late 15th century), and Sōtatsu 宗達 (?- 1640?; Cleveland Museum).