The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 7, 2025

Herdboys and Buffalo in Landscape

1200s

Guo Min

(Chinese, mid-late 1200s)
China, Qixian, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
Hanging scroll; ink on silk
Image: 92 x 56.5 cm (36 1/4 x 22 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 196 x 76 cm (77 3/16 x 29 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.216.1
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Tending water buffalos has traditionally been the task of young boys and can still be seen in rural areas of Southern China today.

Description

Herdboys tend their buffalo in a bucolic landscape by a winding stream. Guo Min emphasizes the massive forms and mighty power of the animals, transforming them into forces of nature.

The poem on this scroll reads: "The bulls are engaging in fighting, Cautiously, each seeks to overcome the other. The herdboy calmly stands by. Untying his belt, he silently watches."
  • Shokado Shojo 松花堂昭乗 [1584–1639], Japan
    Otokoyama Hachiman-gu 男山八幡宮, Kyoto, Japan
    Baron Morimura Kaisaku 男爵 森村開作 [1873–1962], Japan
    ?–1999
    (Kaikodo America Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1999–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kokka no. 355 (1919) pp. 202-206. pp. 202-206
    Harada, Kinjirō 原田謹次郎. Nihon genzai Shina meiga mokuroku日本現在支那名畫目錄. Tōkyō: Ōtsuka Kōgeisha, 1938. p. 124
    Kaikodo (Autumn 1999), no. 2, pp. 94-95, 246-49. pp. 94-95, 246-49
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 97-99
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Mentioned: p. 99
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 28, 2014-January 7, 2015).
  • {{cite web|title=Herdboys and Buffalo in Landscape|url=false|author=Guo Min|year=1200s|access-date=07 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.216.1