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JACQUELINEI. STONEOXHERDING PICTURES
This is a series of Chan (Japanese, Zen) school illus-
trations of a boy chasing and taming a wild ox that
symbolizes the process of seeking and attaining en-
lightenment by means of self-discipline and self-
transformation. Through the ten paintings that are
titled and accompanied by verse commentaries, a nar-
rative of the awakening process unfolds. The boy rep-
resents a seeker, and the ox represents the chaotic,
unharnessed tendencies of the mind or ego that has
the potential to be transformed into a vehicle for real-
izing true spiritual awareness.
What is known as the Ten Oxherding Picturesis not
a single collection of illustrations, but multiple versions
of the series of pictures and poems. The best known
are two early versions developed in the eleventh or
twelfth century during the Song dynasty of China: one
by Puming, which is probably the oldest, and the other
by Kuoan. These are included in the main supplement
to the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Xu zang jing(Sup-
plemental Buddhist Canon), but they have been repro-
duced and modified on numerous occasions. Revision
of the paintings and comments was especially popular
in Tokugawa-era Japan, and new versions have been
produced in the modern period as well. A well-known
version by Kuo’an is transcribed by Nyogen Senzaki
and Paul Reps and illustrated by Tomikichiro Tokuriki
in a way that is similar to the originals, but with some
interesting differences.
The early version by Puming is titled as follows:1.Undisciplined.
2.Discipline Begun.
3.In Harness.
4.Faced Round.
5.Tamed.
6.Unimpeded.
7.Laissez Faire.
8.All Forgotten.
9.The Solitary Moon.
10.Both Vanished.The other early series by Kuo’an is titled as follows:1.Searching for the Ox.
2.Seeing the Traces.
3.Seeing the Ox.
4.Catching the Ox.
5.Herding the Ox.
6.Coming Home on the Ox’s Back.
7.The Ox Forgotten.
8.The Ox and the Man Both Gone Out of Sight.
9.Returning to the Origin.
10.Entering the World.In both sets, subtle details in the landscape and the
coloring of the boy, ox, trees, moon, and other back-
ground elements change to reflect the changing state
of mind of the seeker, who gradually attains enlight-
enment.
The main difference in the versions hinges on the
sequence of events and the religious implications in theOXHERDINGPICTURES