A cowherd riding an ox is a celebrated subject seen in centuries of Chinese paintings and sculptures, although what is not commonly comprehended is the spiritual message in the Zen parable. Equally so is this exceedingly well-carved sculpture, as it is far subtler than at first appears: Here a joyous cowherd climbing on top of an ox, modeled in affable planes of rounded edges, high hand polished to an unctuous mirror surface, in accentuated contrast to the delicate swirling concentric ox hair works, in understated minute details enveloped in an enlivened juxtaposition. Depicting a scene in the Zen parable of spiritual evolution as outlined in Mahayana Sutra, and told by the twelfth-century Sung Dynasty Zen master Kakuan Shien 廓庵師遠, who wrote and illustrated the ten ox-herding series to depict the stages of practice leading to the enlightenment at which Buddhism aims. This ox herding carving depicts the sixth scene in the series: Riding on the ox (Attaining enlightenment)-- Transcending the opposite and realizing the fundamental unity with the ultimate reality that encompasses all phenomena, polarity, and distinctions.

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