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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original file
About This Work
This ink and color silk handscroll features a delicate scene of wild geese navigating a cluster of marsh reeds. To the right, a column of precise calligraphy provides the accompanying literary verse that serves as the thematic anchor for the visual composition.
Inscriptions(Chinese)
鴻雁之什 毛詩小雅 鴻雁于飛 肅肅其羽 之子于征 劬勞于野 爰及矜人 哀此鰥寡 鴻雁于飛 集于中澤 之子于垣 百堵皆作 雖則劬勞 其究安宅 鴻雁于飛 哀鳴嗷嗷 維此哲人 謂我劬勞 維彼愚人 謂我宣驕
Translation
Ode of the Wild Geese Book of Odes, Lesser Odes The wild geese are flying, with their wings rustling. The men have gone on their mission, toiling in the wild. Pity those lonely people, those widowers and widows. The wild geese are flying, gathered in the middle of the marsh. The men are building the walls; the hundred walls are all being built. Although they are toiling, they finally find a settled home. The wild geese are flying, crying out in sorrow. Only the wise man says I am toiling; only the foolish man says I am arrogant.