This painting represents the Chinese sage Laozi (Lao-tse) riding an ox as he departs the Zhou kingdom and withdraws from the world. According to tradition, Laozi served as an archivist at the Zhou court, but became disillusioned by political decline and moral disorder. He chose to leave civilisation behind and travel westward, riding on an ox. At the western frontier, a border guard recognised his wisdom and asked him to record his teachings before departing. Laozi then wrote the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), after which he continued west and disappeared, becoming a symbol of withdrawal, simplicity, and the Dao itself. In Zen painting, this subject represents the idea that true wisdom often withdraws from a corrupt world rather than trying to reform it.

Sengai’s interpretation is characteristically humorous and profound at the same time. Laozi appears as a small, almost childlike figure with an exaggerated beard, seated high on an ox whose head is oversized and whose body is rendered with only a few abbreviated brushstrokes. The simplicity of the drawing reflects the Zen idea that great truths can be expressed with very little, and that humour can coexist with deep philosophical meaning.

The inscription reinforces this meaning. It reads: “Perfect virtue cannot transform the world. When a great building is collapsing, a single piece of wood cannot support it.” This is a classical metaphor: when an age is in decline, even a great sage cannot save it alone. The inscription therefore explains why Laozi leaves the world. His departure is not a failure, but a philosophical choice. When the world no longer follows the Way, the wise man does not struggle for power or attempt to repair what cannot be repaired; instead, he withdraws, preserves the Way within himself, and leaves behind his teaching. Sengai’s painting is thus a meditation on the limits of virtue, the decline of societies, and the dignity of withdrawal.