id:			147592
accession number:	1973.86
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.86
updated:		2022-04-21 09:00:41.862000

Monk Riding Backwards on a Water Buffalo, 1687. Yamaguchi Sekkei (Japanese, 1644–1732), Nanyuan Xingpai (Chinese, 1631–1692). Hanging scroll; ink on paper; painting: 116.5 x 39 cm (45 7/8 x 15 3/8 in.); mounted: 201.3 x 55.9 cm (79 1/4 x 22 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Nisaburo Mizutani 1973.86

title:				Monk Riding Backwards on a Water Buffalo
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1687
creation date earliest:		1687
creation date latest:		1687
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Nisaburo Mizutani
copyright:			

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culture:	Japan, Edo period (1615-1868)
technique:	hanging scroll; ink on paper
department:	Japanese Art
collection:	ASIAN - Hanging scroll
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Yamaguchi Sekkei (Japanese, 1644–1732)  - artist

* Nanyuan Xingpai (Chinese, 1631–1692)  - inscription by

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measurements: Painting: 116.5 x 39 cm (45 7/8 x 15 3/8 in.); Mounted: 201.3 x 55.9 cm (79 1/4 x 22 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	関房印　賛　拝丁卯恵△日　福寺南源XX　印（上）性派之印　印（下）南源　款記 梅庵雪渓筆　落款印（上）梅庵（下）雪渓
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting
	opening date:   1985-10-01T04:00:00
	<i>Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986).

	title:		Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen
	opening date:   1987-12-08T05:00:00
	<i>Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Nisaburo Mizutani, Kyoto, Japan, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: ?–1973
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1973–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
The Ōbaku lineage of the Zen school of Buddhism in Japan is named for Mount Huangbo (Japanese: Ōbaku) in China.

digital description: 
The inscription at the top of this painting was brushed by Ōbaku school monk Nanyuan Xingpai (Japanese: Nangen Shōha), a Chinese Buddhist monk who emigrated to Japan in 1654, while the painting was done in ink by Yamaguchi Sekkei, a Japanese painter active in Kyoto who was known for his Buddhist subjects, many of which remain in temples today. The figure here reads a text while riding backward upon a water buffalo. Sekkei's painting may be meant to depict the Chinese monk Weizheng (986–1049), also known as "Zheng of the Yellow Ox" after his favored mount. Nanyuan's inscription makes reference to another classical story in which a man by the name of Li Yuan comes across the reincarnation of his friend Yuanze as a young herder riding upon a water buffalo. Both stories feature the themes of friendship and spiritual insight.

wall description: 

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Cunningham, Michael R. "The Japanese Painter Yamaguchi Sekkei." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 67, no. 1 (1980): 2-16.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 11; Mentioned: p. 2-16
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/25159655

	Sŏn, Sŭng-hye. <em>The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Ar</em>t. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011.
	page number: 	Reproduced: cat. no. 25, p. 48
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.86/1973.86_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.86/1973.86_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.86/1973.86_full.tif