十牛頌図巻|Ten Verses on Oxherding

Unknown

1278 · Handscroll; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

Since the early history of the Chan (Zen) tradition in China, a herdboy’s search for his lost ox has served as a parable for a practitioner’s pursuit of enlightenment. In the twelfth century, the Chan master Kuoan Shiyuan codified the tale into ten verses describing the phases of spiritual progress. Dated by an inscription to 1278, the present scroll is the earliest known Japanese illustrated version of these verses and the only extant copy with color illustrations. By Kuoan’s second-to-last verse, the herdboy has transcended this world; thus he and his ox are absent from the landscape. In the final stage representing the attainment of Buddhist enlightenment, the boy becomes one with Budai (Japanese: Hotei), the manifestation of the future Buddha Miroku (Sanskrit: Maitreya).

Artist

Unknown

Date

1278

Medium

Handscroll; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015