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Man, Buffalo, and Calf

Li You

1145

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Song Landscape Medieval Landscape Oxen

Dominant colour

Man, Buffalo, and Calf is a 1145 unspecified by Li You, a Song Landscape work, depicting Oxen, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Li You
When & what style?: 1145 · Song Landscape
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A boy sits under a tree with a water buffalo and its calf, while a myna bird perches nearby. The scene feels quiet and ordinary—just a moment in the countryside. This kind of painting was more than just a pretty picture. It was a gift for officials, meant to remind them of patience and hard work. The buffalo, strong but unselfish, stood for the ideal leader. To see more paintings like this, look up *subject: china, southern song dynasty (1127-1279)*.

The story of this work

Overview

Here, a herdboy tending a cow with a calf is sitting beneath a tree with his pet myna bird. The painting can be read as a pastoral scene. As the water buffalo helped plow the fields, it was perceived as an animal that endures hard work without gain for itself, often interpreted as a metaphor for the official. Ox-herding pictures, presented as gifts in court circles, were used for their moral and political rhetoric. The Yijing (Book of Changes) states, The Receptive is the earth, the mother . . . it is a cow with a calf . . . the multitude [in relation to the ruler] .