For the first time in 400 years, two pillars of Chan Buddhist brush painting have left their home at the Zen Buddhist temple Daitokuji Ryokoin in Kyoto, Japan, for display in “The Heart of Zen,” a brief exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Sequenced to match the changing seasons, “Persimmons” and “Chestnuts,” 13th-century ink compositions by the Song dynasty Chinese artist and monk Muqi Fachang, will be presented individually, one at a time, for three weeks each.