There is a man who has amused and pleased everyone for hundreds of years only with his sleeping posture. It is a figure in the picture “Draught Ox Driver” by painter Kim Tu Ryang (1696-1763) during the feudal Joson dynasty.
The picture gives a lifelike portrayal of a draught ox driver who has fallen into a deep sleep under the shadow after all day’s tiring work. In the middle of the picture is painted a big ox and on the right is an ox driver fast asleep on the grass, which gives a glimpse into the country life in our country at that time. The ox driver in the nap in the shadow of the summer is portrayed in a simple and plain way. The thick untrimmed hair, firmly closed lips, dangling earlobes, raised corners of the eyes, undone front of the jacket and untied cord of the trousers are so impressive. The ox chewing the grass in the middle shows the gentleness and strength of Korean oxen and the neatness of the owner who values and takes good care of it. The surroundings like the bottom of the willow, the drooping branches and the grass feel as if they were emitting the fragrance of soil.
Well-composed and soft with thin coloring, the painting is an excellent masterpiece in the aspect of portrayal of that time. On the one hand, it looks as if you can hear cicadas and other insects buzzing and the farmer snoring, and the ox driver, on the other hand, looks so fast asleep that nobody would be willing to awaken him.
In a word, the painting “Draught Ox Driver” by Kim Tu Ryang exhibited in the Korean Art Gallery is a masterpiece that has stimulated extraordinary interest of a lot of people for hundreds of years only with a sleeping figure.
Jo Hwi Nam, section head at the Academy of Social Sciences
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