The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 17, 2025
Weizheng Riding on an Ox
1687
(Japanese, 1644–1732)
inscription by
(Chinese, 1631–1692)
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.)
Gift of Nisaburo Mizutani 1973.86
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
The Ōbaku lineage of the Zen school of Buddhism in Japan is named for Mount Huangbo (Japanese: Ōbaku) in China.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 depicts the Chinese monk Weizheng (986–1049), also known as "Zheng of the Yellow Ox" after his favored mount. Nanyuan's inscription is a poem about the monk.- ?–1973Nisaburo Mizutani, Kyoto, Japan, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1973–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Cunningham, Michael R. "The Japanese Painter Yamaguchi Sekkei." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 1 (1980): 2–16. Reproduced: p. 11; Mentioned: pp. 2–16 www.jstor.orgSŏn, Sŭng-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Reproduced: cat. no. 25, p. 48
- Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988).Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986).
- {{cite web|title=Weizheng Riding on an Ox|url=false|author=Yamaguchi Sekkei, Nanyuan Xingpai|year=1687|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.86