Mahayana: Buddhism which spread to China and Japan. mandala: esoteric diagrams purportedly containing the key to cosmological truths.
Manyoshu: early anthology of Japanese poetry (780).
Ma Yuan (active ca. 1190-1224): Chinese Southern Sung painter
whose works strongly influenced Japanese Zen artists.
Minamoto: warrior family of the Heian and Kamakura eras. Mincho (1351-1431): Japanese priest and one of the first Japanese artists to successfully adopt and revive Chinese styles of paintings.
miso: fermented soybean paste used in Japanese cooking. miyabi: Heian aesthetic term signifying subtleties only a connoisseur could appreciate.
Momoyama: period of Japanese history from 1 537 to 1615. mondo: Zen question-and-answer session in which a novice must
respond immediately and without reflection to questions posed by a Zen master.
Mu-ch'i (ca. 1210-ca. 1280): Chinese Ch'an painter whose works
strongly affected Japanese Zen artists.