A Master of his own - The Calligraphy of the Chan Abbot Zhongfeng Mingben (1262-1323) (Studien zur Ostasiatischen Schriftkunst)

The Chinese Chan (jap. Zen) abbot Zhongfeng Mingben of the Yuan Dynasty forged a synthesis of buddhist sutra writing and draft-cursive (zhang cao) script in his calligraphy. This highly idiosyncratic, new style of calligraphy prompted innovative trends in Ming Dynasty China and transmitted current Chinese artistic developments to Japan where it had a major impact on Zen- and tea circles. (Franz Steiner 2002)