Minneapolis Institute of Art

Boy Leading an Ox Along the Farm Path

China

Date

late 13th century

Medium

Ink and color on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Using a rather extreme aerial perspective, the artist created a detailed scene of a boy leading a water buffalo home at dusk along a river or large canal. They walk on an elevated path that is part of the dike system forming the rice paddies to their left. While at first glance this small fan painting seems a poetic interpretation of farm life, it also symbolizes the harmonious relationship among human, animal, and nature espoused by the Daoists. The artist has skillfully condensed a remarkably wide panorama of varied landscape into only a few inches of silk. China, Asia

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