 |
|
Laoz Leaving on the Ox-back; Cho Sok-jin
|
|
|
Laoz Leaving on the Ox-back; Cho Sok-jin
|
This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.
In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in this first moment,: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.
In order to state, we must make a decision. This decision is a commitment to daily self-cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone and naked, we negotiate all of life's travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.
Once we make our decision, all things will come to use. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response. It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive., In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our purpose.
beginning
365 Tao
Deng Ming-Dao
Daily Meditations
Laoz Leaving on the Ox-back
Cho Sok-jin (1853 - 1920)
Choson Dynasty, late 19th to early 20th century
Ink and light colors on paper
139.2 cm x 72.1 cmCho Sok-jin (pen name Sorim), one of the most widely recognized painters of the late Choson period, studied painting under his grandfather, Cho Chong-gyu (1791 - ?). The two were both court painters who were most famous for their fish paintings, but the younger Cho also displayed prominent talent in portrait, landscape, Taoist figures, flowers and birds, and crab paintings. He was appointed a local magistrate as a reward for successfully copying a portrait of the king.
The painting presented here illustrates Laoz, a Taoist sage, leaving for a journey on the back of an ox. The background landscape, rendered mostly in ink, is representative of the Chinese Southern School, while the figures are described with extremely smooth brushstrokes, a technique rarely seen in his other paintings of ancient sages.
ed. note: some may think this is Lao Tsu, attributed writer of the Tao te Ching and other texts. In Chinese, the words "Lao Tsu" simply mean Old Man. Today in China you will hear the sage of wisdom referred to as "The Old Man".