"Your five senses tell you who you are. So someone else's senses will not do. You must not forget your own senses, and you must not lose them."
When you are unsure of your own feelings or sense of justice, or when you have grown tired of your differences with others. I painted this wishing to gently pour the light of harmony and self-acceptance into the hearts of such people.
The Feeling in This Work
For those unsure of their own feelings or sense of justice, and those tired of differences with others. I put into it an energy that embraces opposites and lets the light of harmony and self-acceptance flow within the heart.
Wield justice and it becomes evil; within evil, justice also hides. In such a world, I made it with the prayer that peace may be born where many "justices" meet and melt together.
Concept & Background
This work takes as its theme both the "shield" and the "halberd" within you: the power to protect yourself and the power to carry your truth through. Either one alone is not enough. Holding both opposites within yourself, and being able to feel that no version of you is wrong, is, I think, the first step toward true harmony.
On Making This Work
May those who see this art feel their hearts loosen, sensing that no version of themselves is wrong, and be wrapped in security and warmth.
The same work cannot be delivered again, but with Personal Order Art, I paint a one-of-a-kind work just for you through a conversation with each person.About using the artwork
More about this painting
The origin of the word "mujun"
The title "shield and halberd" comes from the ancient story behind the Japanese word "mujun," meaning contradiction — literally "halberd-shield."
The Han Feizi, a Chinese philosophical text from the Warring States period, tells this story. A man from the state of Chu was selling shields and halberds. He boasted, "This shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it." Then he said, "This halberd is so sharp that it can pierce anything." Someone asked, "Then what happens if you strike that shield with that halberd?" — and the seller could not answer.
From this story, things that do not add up came to be called "mujun."
We live holding contradictions
The wish to protect and the wish to move forward. The wish to connect with others and the wish to be alone. In our hearts, opposite feelings always exist at the same time, like a shield and a halberd.
This painting is for times when you are unsure of your own feelings or sense of what is right, or when you are worn out by differences with others. Holding contradictions is not a mistake. I think it is a sign that the heart is moving richly.
Your five senses tell you who you are
I gave this painting the words: "Your five senses tell you who you are. So someone else's senses won't do."
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch — the idea of dividing human senses into five is said to go back to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Even when we see the same landscape or hear the same music, each of us feels it differently. What you find beautiful and what moves your heart — those senses are the very reason you are you.
Don't let go of your own senses
When other people's opinions and ideas of what is right threaten to sweep you along, remember what you saw with your own eyes, heard with your own ears, and felt with your own heart.
Both the shield and the halberd are precious parts of you. I would be happy if this painting could gently support you in trusting your own senses.
Sources
Han Feizi, "Nan Yi" chapter
Aristotle, On the Soul (De Anima)
¥60,000
tax, frame & domestic shipping included
shipping outside Japan: flat ¥8,000
approx. USD $400
A one-of-a-kind original painting.
