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Artist: Li Jishou
Title: Plum Blossoms after Jin Nong
Date: Second half of 19th century
Period: Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 AD)
Medium: Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Location: University of Michigan Museum of Art
Inscription:
Standing alone elegantly, [the plum blossom]
is not of this dusty world.
At the forefront of all other spring flowers,
it blooms first.
Uniquely distinguished, its bones and face
are made of ice and frost.
From its indifference to fame and profit,
one witnesses its ingenuousness.
This celebrated blossom has many manifestations,
yet there is no trace of its origins.
Its present form is actually the reincarnation
of the bright moon.
A tree with flowers like oral, its fragrance trails off endlessly;
Its pure demeanor overawes the heaven
and earth. |