  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  In this sprawling riverside scene, thirty-five young boys watch over a herd of eighty-five water buffalo and three cows. Some animals graze, swim, or walk calmly. Others are rowdy, resisting the herder&acirc;&#128;&#153;s lead or locking horns.  
Members of the urban Chinese elite often romanticized rural subjects such as this one, believing country life to be simpler and more peaceful than their own. Some viewers of this painting might have focused on playful details, such as the boy climbing a tree or the pair of friends chatting on a rocky outcrop. But others may have paid more attention to the theme of labor. Many of the boys exert themselves to keep their herd in check, pulling on, chasing, or even swimming after unruly bovines. And when not at pasture, the buffalo themselves worked as draft animals, plowing the fields that fed people in the city and countryside alike.
  
  
  Title
  Water Buffalo and Herd Boys
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1368 and 1460
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Chinese
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Ink and watercolor on silk
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 15 1/4 inches &Atilde;&#151; 19 feet 3 1/4 inches (38.7 cm &Atilde;&#151; 5 m 87.4 cm)
  Image: 12 1/2 &Atilde;&#151; 120 inches (31.8 &Atilde;&#151; 304.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  Asian Art
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Walter R. Parker
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  31.284
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
