# Zen Circle

- By: Tokuō Ryōkō (1649–1709)
- Date: 1680 - 1709
- Medium: paper, ink
- Classification: hanging scroll
- Dimensions: height 166 cm x width 35.3 cm
- Credit line: On loan from the Royal Asian Art Society in The Netherlands (bequest F. Hess, 2023)
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/AK-MAK-1831--d0025e3f1bb9d009ce249c231eb9f824)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/074302b743823158d9c344ae49010de3.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A Zen painting serves as an additional aid to those on the path of Zen in search of enlightenment. Among the familiar motifs is a painted circle. Here it is accompanied by the calligraphed question ‘What is this?’ along with totsu, an exclamation intended to catalyze a sudden insight in the disciple.