White Clouds Come and Go

Reading

The mountain does not move; the clouds come and go of their own accord.

What arrives is not held, what departs is not pursued.

The passing passes, and the unsettled stays unsettled, neither one disturbing the other.

Clouds rising are no obstruction — only a passing view, present and then gone.

Origin

The latter line of the couplet "The green mountain does not move; the white clouds come and go of themselves," derived from the Wudeng Huiyuan (Compendium of the Five Lamps), fascicle 4, entry on Chan master Lingyun Zhiqin of Fuzhou — given as his reply to a monk who asked how to escape birth, old age, sickness, and death. The primary text reads "the floating clouds, left to come and go" (浮雲任去来); the form "white clouds come and go of themselves" (白雲自去来) is the later received reading transmitted through the Zenrin Kushu.

Seal

Cut by hand in Tokyo by the artist. The angle of the blade and the depth of the stroke decide where the ink bleeds and where it holds. No imprint repeats.

篆刻 — 佐竹寶千　朱印

Specifications

Garment: Short sleeve: Bella + Canvas 3001 / Long sleeve: Gildan 2400 (Ultra Cotton)
Print: DTG print — front: the seal; back & inside label: 寳千 / Vermilion
Size: S · M · L · XL
Price: ¥6,980$70.00€65.00

Size guide

Short sleeve · Bella + Canvas 3001

Size	Length	Chest width
S	71 / 28.0	46 / 18.1
M	74 / 29.1	51 / 20.1
L	76 / 29.9	56 / 22.0
XL	79 / 31.1	61 / 24.0

Long sleeve · Gildan 2400

Size	Length	Chest width	Sleeve
S	71 / 28.0	46 / 18.1	85 / 33.5
M	74 / 29.1	51 / 20.1	89 / 35.0
L	76 / 29.9	56 / 22.0	93 / 36.6
XL	79 / 31.1	61 / 24.0	97 / 38.2

Garment measured flat, in cm / inches. Slight variation occurs between pieces. Sizes follow Japanese garment standards — check the measurements rather than the letter.