Du Fu Climbing Up to A Tower

杜甫 (803-852, famous Tang poet) 登樓

花近高樓傷客心
萬方多難此登臨
錦江春色來天地
玉壘浮雲變古今
....

It breaks my heart to see blooming trees near the tower.
The country torn apart, could I admire the flower?
Spring comes from sky on earth and greens River Brocade;
The world changes now as then whitle clouds o'er Mount Jade....

The Meaning of Rooster

(Gung)Ji (chiken)sounds like "fortune" in Chinese. Besides, it has five virtues:
1. Elegance: with red headpiece on top.
2. Warrior: with claws to fight.
3. Bravery: with fighting spirit to confront enemy.
4. Kindness: inviding other chikens to share food found.
5. Trustworthy: crowing early in the morning on time.

How beautiful the rooster is!

My Song of Four Gold Fish

With the painting done, I composed my "Song" to glorify them as they are gliding through water:
水底鱗波舞翩翩
上下迴旋意漣漣
借問誰家俊俏兒?
輕攏慢撚樂無眠


Under water they are dancing in shining ripples,
Some up, some down, circling and turning in graceful moves;
Whose handsome kids these are, I wonder?
With gentle and slow gestures, they are happy dancing without end.

One Catfish 鯰魚

A catfish, done with just a few simple strokes, trying to signify its movements in water. Surrounded on three fronts are some chosen calligraphy versions of fish--some ancient, some cursive, some standard, in addition to my given name "京" with my personal chop under it. A friend commented: "Your given name also looks like a fish". Does it?

P.S. On July 26, 2011 to our surprise we got a catfish in Lake Monroe, south of Bloomington, Indiana.  I carefully checked the fish with my painting--exactly the same!  Those whiskers tell. 漁家樂 漁人一字一字 織成一張張電子網， 趁滿天繁星閃爍， 向汪洋大海撒去！ 等上弦月將天狼射落， 太陽神由海平線衝起， 忽然！知心語 一尾， 一尾， 乘著 電光 與風， 飛傳 游回。 頓時， 海上彩霞飛舞， 一片金輝燦爛！

廬山之五 (Mt. Lu-5), completed with calligraphy narrative

The original painting by Jing Huao, by the way, was done on a piece of silk cloth dyed to the tint of dark orange color. Also, perhaps time (over one thousand years) has worked on it to make it appear so. Anyway, having finished the painting, I tried to dye the rice paper all over to orange color as close as possible to the original. Having done three times of dyeing, it turns out to be a bit too bright, as one of my friends commented. But, she added, given it one thousand years, perhaps it will tune down a little. Who knows?
I also added some calligraphy narrative about Jing Huao the painter, some social context and his artistic specialties in reference to other artists of his time.
Thus my self-imposed "assignment" of emulation is finished. Now your suggestions and comments will be greatly appreciated.

盧山之四 （Mt. Lu-4）

After I got back to Bloomington, Indiana, I worked on Mt. Lu painting for another 10 days or so before I "completed" it. In fact, I left the lower one-fifth of the original painting alone, which includes some more trees and a big mansion with walls around it, a fisherman paddling a boat, a man walking a cow, etc. I left those humanized touches alone because I want to give the impression of wild nature unspoiled by men.