Couplet in running-standard script

Bounty and increase for one and all;
Full and complete, supreme compassion.

As indicated in the small column of text on the right scroll, the calligrapher quoted these two lines from a Buddhist hymn at the end of chapter forty-four in the abstruse Avatamsaka Sutra (Garland sutra), which was preached by the Buddha directly after his enlightenment. Translated from Sanskrit into Chinese around 418-20 c.e., this sutra later became the central text of the Huayan School of Buddhism in China, which flourished during the Tang dynasty (618-907).

By the end of the nineteenth century, the young Li Shutong had already established his name as a traditional poet, author, painter, calligrapher, and seal carver. After studying Western art and music in Japan from 1905 to 1910, he returned to China a leading proponent of the new literature and worked as a journalist, literary and art editor, and college instructor. Despite his worldly success, Li experienced a profound spiritual dissatisfaction, and in 1918 he took holy vows as a Buddhist monk with the religious name of Hongyi, becoming a leading reformer of the clergy renowned for his austerity. Inspired by early sutra scrolls, Hongyi developed his own style of calligraphy, which is prized for its simple, unassuming character.