{{no footnotes, date=October 2019 The term ''Sanpitsu'' (三筆) or "three brushes" is used in Japanese to refer to a group of three famous

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

calligraphers: *

Emperor Saga was the 52nd emperor of Japan,#Kunaichō, Emperor Saga, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Saga's reign spanned the years from 809 through 823 ...

嵯峨天皇, 786–842. *

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...

空海, 774–835. *

Tachibana no Hayanari was a Heian period Japanese government official, calligrapher, and member of the Tachibana family. He travelled to China in 804, returning in 806. He died while traveling to exile in Izu Province for supposed participation in an imperial success ...

, 橘逸勢 c. 782-842. Later groups of calligraphers were named in imitation of the original Sanpitsu.

Kan'ei Sanpitsu (寛永三筆)

Named for the

Kan'ei was a after ''Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./ref> Chang ...

period in which they flourished: *

Honami Kōetsu Honami may refer to: *Honami (name) *Honami, Fukuoka, a former town in Kaho District, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan *25074 Honami, a minor planet *Sony Xperia Z1 The Sony Xperia Z1 is an Android (operating system), Android smartphone produced by ...

本阿弥光悦, 1558-1637 *

Konoe Nobutada was a Momoyama period Japanese courtier known as a poet, calligrapher, painter and diarist. Having no legitimate son, he adopted his nephew Nobuhiro as his heir. Other names he is known by are Nobumoto (信基) and Nobusuke (信輔) in his early ...

近衛信尹, 1565-1614 *

Shōkadō Shōjō Shōkadō Shōjō (松花堂昭乗, 1584-1639) was an Edo period Buddhist monk, painter, calligrapher and master of the tea ceremony. He is one of the . ''Shōjō'' is the Buddhist name the youth was given when he entered the Hachiman shrine on ...

松花堂昭乗, 1584-1639

Ōbaku no Sanpitsu (黄檗三筆)

Zen Chinese calligraphers who worked in Japan. * Ingen Ryūki, 隱元隆琦 1592-1673 *

Mokuan Shōtō Mu'an (; Japanese language, Japanese Mokuan Shōtō) (1611–1684) was a Chinese Zen, Chan monk who followed his master Yinyuan Longqi to Japan in 1654. History Together they founded the Obaku (school of Buddhism), Ōbaku Zen school and Mampu ...

,木庵性瑫 1611-1684 *

Sokuhi Nyoitsu was a Buddhist monk of the Ōbaku Zen sect, and was also an accomplished poet and calligrapher. His teacher Ingen Ryūki, Mokuan Shōtō and Sokuhi were together known as the "Three Brushes of Ōbaku" or Ōbaku no Sanpitsu. China Sokuhi was ...

, 即非如一 1616-1671

Bakumatsu no Sanpitsu (幕末の三筆)

* Ichikawa Beian (市河米庵) 1779-1858 * Nukina Sūō (貫名菘翁) 1778-1863 * Maki Ryōko (巻菱湖) 1777-1843

Meiji no Sanpitsu (明治の三筆)

*Nakabayashi Gochiku (中林梧竹) 1827-1913 *Kusakabe Meikaku (日下部鳴鶴) 1838-1922 *Iwaya Ichiroku (巌谷一六) 1834-1905

Shōwa no Sanpitsu (昭和の三筆)

*Hibino Gohō (日比野五鳳) 1901-1985 *Teshima Yūkei (手島右卿) 1901-1987 *Nishikawa Yasushi (西川寧) 1902-1989

References