Dai Jin's 'Huike Offering His Arm To Bodhidharma'

The Path To Enlightenment
There are several legends that depict different scenes for the famed Bodhidharma and Huike. One of those is the story of Huike cutting off his arm. The paintings from Dai Jin and Sesshu ultimately show this story, with Sesshu’s painting similarly named “Huike Offering His Arm To Bodhidharma.” The story is fairly simple; Huike wanted to become truly enlightened and went on a journey to find someone to enlighten and teach him, Bodhidharma. Initially, Huike waited in the snow for Bodhidharma until he asked why Huike was there. After replying with wanting to be enlightened, Bodhidharma refused. To show his resolve, Huike cut off his left arm and presented it to Bodhidharma as an offering. He accepted, and Huike became a student for Bodhidharma. While similar to how they look, for both of the paintings, the theme for them would be something akin sacrifice, and being able to do anything without hesitation …show more content…
Sesshu also accomplishes the textures, yet again in different areas. Jin’s work on the ominous trees was smart to do as they could be a representation of pain. Cutting the arm off of the body is not something that comes painless, and the sharpness of the branches makes it look like Huike could have used them as a knife. While Sesshu’s painting is smaller in terms of how much is in it, it still has a good amount of textures. One such of those textures is that of the cave, and how it feels. The viewer can see that it is jagged with how thick and sharp many of the lines are. It is almost of an unwelcoming look, like the trees from Dai Jin. Such an unpleasant front may turn one away from being able to sacrifice a part of them, and everything they knew before. As the painting goes further into the background, the texture becomes lighter, to show that the cave moves quite a ways away from