Daruma

Daruma depicts Bodhidharma, the Indian monk credited with transmitting Chan Buddhism to China and the spiritual ancestor of Zen practice in Japan. In Japanese folk iconography, Daruma is conventionally rendered as a round, robed figure in red with a stern or meditative expression, eyebrows dramatically arched — a form derived from centuries of popular devotional imagery. Bull's mokuhanga interpretation would require relatively few blocks to capture the bold, flat areas of red and black that define the traditional Daruma image, though fine line carving on the face and robe folds demands precision. The subject bridges the religious and secular in Japanese visual culture, as Daruma dolls and images are associated with perseverance and the granting of wishes.