Translation of The Ten Oxherding Pictures and Verses by Monk Kuò’ān of Liangshan, Dǐngzhōu (《住鼎州梁山廓庵和尚十牛图颂并序》)

This seminal Zen text, composed by ​Kuò’ān Shīyuǎn (廓庵师远, fl. c. 1150), a Linji-school monk of the Yangqi lineage during the Southern Song Dynasty, uses ten allegorical stages of “oxherding” to map the spiritual journey from delusion to enlightenment. Each stage combines a painting, a prose commentary (zhuóyǔ 著语), and a verse (sòng 颂), symbolizing the taming of the mind (the “ox”) through Zen practice. The scroll, dated to 1278 and housed at the ​Metropolitan Museum of Art, remains a cornerstone of Chan/Zen literature.

Key Stages and Translations:

1. ​Searching for the Ox (寻牛)
   • Prose: “The ox was never lost—why seek it? Through ignorance, we drift; through worldly attachments, we stray”.
   • Verse:
     “Through tangled weeds I blindly grope,
     Mountains vast, rivers deep, no hope.
     Exhausted, lost—no ox in sight,
     Only cicadas sing at night.”
2. ​Seeing the Traces (见迹)
   • Prose: “Scriptures reveal the path; all phenomena are one. Yet distinctions cloud the truth”.
   • Verse:
     “By streams, in woods—traces abound,
     Through fragrant grass, clues are found.
     Deep in mountains, none can hide—
     The ox’s breath spans heaven wide.”
3. ​Seeing the Ox (见牛)
   • Prose: “Through sound, the mind awakens; senses align. Salt in water, glue in hue—truth is ever near”.
   • Verse:
     “Orioles sing on willow boughs,
     Sunlit breeze, green banks endow.
     Nowhere left to flee or shun—
     Its horns defy the painter’s brush.”
4. ​Catching the Ox (得牛)
   • Prose: “Long buried in wilderness, the ox resists. Its wildness lingers; only discipline subdues”.
   • Verse:
     “With might I seize the stubborn beast,
     Yet strength alone cannot release.
     On high plains, clouds cloak its form—
     A shadow lost in fleeting storm.”
5. ​Herding the Ox (牧牛)
   • Prose: “Thoughts arise like waves; vigilance binds the ox. Truth springs from mind, not circumstance”.
   • Verse:
     “Whip and rope—no moment’s rest,
     Lest dust pollute its tranquil breast.
     Tamed at last, it follows free—
     No chains, yet walks in harmony.”
6. ​Riding Home (骑牛归家)
   • Prose: “Conflict ends; gain and loss dissolve. Singing village songs, the herder gazes skyward”.
   • Verse:
     “Astride the ox, I wander home,
     Flute songs merge with twilight’s dome.
     Each beat, each note—boundless grace,
     No words needed for truth’s embrace.”
7. ​Ox Forgotten, Self Alone (忘牛存人)
   • Prose: “No duality—ox and self are one. Gold from ore, moon from clouds: pure essence shines”.
   • Verse:
     “The ox is gone; the man remains,
     Sun climbs high, yet dream sustains.
     Whip and rope—now idle lies,
     In stillness, boundless freedom sighs.”
8. ​Both Self and Ox Forgotten (人牛俱忘)
   • Prose: “All concepts vanish—sacred and mundane empty. A snowflake in blazing fire: only thus meets the ancestors”.
   • Verse:
     “Ox, man, whip—all void, all gone,
     Vast blue skies—no path, no song.
     Flame and snow—one primal light,
     Here, the patriarchs unite.”
9. ​Returning to the Source (返本还源)
   • Prose: “Original purity—unstained, unbound. Waters flow, flowers bloom: witness without clinging”.
   • Verse:
     “To trace the source—how vain the quest!
     Deaf and blind—the truest rest.
     No thing exists within this hut—
     Rivers run red, blooms stay shut.”
10. ​Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands (入鄽垂手)
    • Prose: “Barefoot, mud-smeared—he enters the world. No mystic arts: dead trees bloom with compassion”.
    • Verse:
      “Bare-chested, laughing through the crowd,
      Ashes smeared, he sings aloud.
      No spells needed—withered trees
      Now burst with flowers, worlds at ease.”

Historical Context:

• Kuò’ān’s work, expanding on earlier Eight Oxherding Pictures by Qīngjū禅师, became foundational in Zen pedagogy.
• The scroll’s 1278 Japanese copy reflects its transmission via monk ​Ichinen Isshū (一山一宁) and later influence on Suzuki Daisetz’s Zen popularization in the West.

Legacy:

A bridge between poetic metaphor and Zen philosophy, the Ten Oxherding Pictures illuminate the paradox of seeking what was never lost—the luminous mind. Explore the Met’s digital collection for high-resolution details.