• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-26
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• 2010

The Ten Ox Herding Pictures by Kuo-an, a Zen Master of China in the Middle Ages are interpreted from the view point of the analytical psychology of C.G. Jung. Basically, I agree with the previous Jungian comments on it by M. J..Spiegelman, M.Miyuki, and H.Kawai at the Ox Herding Pictures are symbolic manifestations of the individuation process in terms of C.G.Jung. In connection with the process of Jungian analysis, I went through, not only the pictures but also the eulogies and critical comments of Zen masters in order to elucidate the symbolical meanings of each stage of spiritual development in Zen meditation. I noticed that the Ox Herding Pictures suggest the preference of suppression and conscious control of shadow in Jung's terms rather than its assimilation through making conscious the unconscious inferior personality. Also, the feminine psyche seems to be not particularly taken into consideration. In another words, different psychic aspects are represented in one single image : Ox. Due to the simplicity of pictorial expressions, the Ox Herding Pictures provide us possibilities to pour abundant imaginations into the pictures. The images comprise multiple irrational meanings; therefore it is warranted to render multiple interpretations of the Pictures as shown in the eulogies and comments by other Zen masters. The sequences of the Pictures need not coincide with a linear process but rather with a circular process of enlightenment, as Miyuki has suggested. Kuo-an's Pictures clearly suggest the danger of ego inflation and the fact that the final goal of Zen meditation should be the capability of the enlightened to serve the people.