In the middle of the 17th century, just as the Tokugawa shogunate (1615-1868) was being established in Edo (modern Tokyo), the Ming collapsed, as Manchu invaders from the northeast took control of the nation. Many Chinese fled their war-torn homeland, particularly a group of Linji (Japanese Rinzai) Zen monks from the southern province of Fujian, a hotbed of Ming loyalist resistance. Highly literate and trained in the arts, these monks landed at Nagasaki. Eventually they were allowed to establish the temple of Manpukuji in Uji, near Kyoto, where they promoted a brand of Buddhism known as the Öbaku sect. As the Edo shogunate closed off its borders, these Chinese monks were one of the few connections Japanese artists had to the outside world. Öbaku monks brought with them new Chinese painting and calligraphy styles, as well as actual paintings, notably from the Wu-school tradition codified by Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) and his students. The monumental handscroll Clearing After Snowfall Along the River, traditionally attributed to the 8th century but almost certainly done by an artist in Wen Zhengming’s circle, is one of the exhibition’s most historically important paintings.