White Ox in the Open Air
- Medium
- Hanging scroll, ink on paper
- Dimensions
- 41 1/4 x 12 5/16 in. (104.78 x 31.27 cm) (image) 72 3/8 x 13 1/8 in. (183.83 x 33.34 cm) (overall, excluding scroll bar)
Tags
Japan
About
Takeda Mokurai was the 369th abbot of the Ken’nin-ji temple in Kyoto. This scroll features the simple figure of a bull: a circle for its body and dabs of ink for ears, horns, and tail. In Zen Buddhist thought, the white ox symbolizes purity and transcendence. It appears in the Buddhist parable of the burning house, in which it represents the Buddha’s One Vehicle that leads all sentient beings to enlightenment.