On 'The Verse Sewn into the Robe'

nagaya ou kishin no kesa ni nuitsukerareta shi — The Verse Sewn into the Robe.

On the origin

A gāthā that Prince Nagaya had embroidered in gold thread along the hems of a thousand kesa robes sent to the monks of Tang. Its four lines — “Different lands, mountains and rivers; one same sky, wind and moon. Offered to the children of the Buddha, to bind a bond yet to come” — are recorded in the Complete Tang Poems (Quan Tangshi), vol. 732, under the title “On the Hem of an Embroidered Kesa.” The verse is said to have moved Ganjin toward his crossing to Japan.

On the reading

Mountains and rivers mark off one land from another; the same wind and moon pass over both. What divides is distance, not sky. The robe is sent to people not yet met, to tie a bond not yet come. The tie is made before the meeting.

On the garment

The seal for this phrase was hand-carved in Tokyo by the artist Satake Hōsen. The front carries this phrase’s seal; the back and inside label carry the Hōsen seal (寳千), printed in vermilion.

The garment is Bella + Canvas 3001 (short sleeve) or Gildan 2400 (long sleeve). A vessel for the word, not the subject itself.

― hosen, tokyo