Reciting Poetry Amidst Pine Wind and Spouting Springs
松风飞泉吟诗图
Reciting Poetry Amidst Pine Wind and Spouting Springs
I have been partial to painting pines for many years, desiring to capture its spirit. Pines grow in a way that are curved but not grotesque, at times clustered and at times sparse, with its green nearing the colour of jadeite. A noble character can be seen from its minute ends to its straight trunk. Despite its towering stature, its branches reach low. Its needles hang suspended without falling onto the ground, layered as if they were stacked up in the forest, reminiscent of the superior person’s (junzi) noble air. Some paintings portray pines as flying and coiled dragons, its branches and leaves sprouting in an untrammelled manner; this is not the character of pine trees. Ancient sages and painters enjoyed the company of pines because of its ancient character.
Painted in the Mid-Autumn Festival of Bingxu in the Unsullied Studio, on the western suburbs of Shanghai
Jiafang of Jiading
松风飞泉吟诗图
吾好写松已为数年之久，松之精神为吾所图。松之生也，枉而不曲遇。如密如疏，匪青匪翠。从微自直，萌心不低。势既独高，枝低复偃，倒挂未坠于地下，分层似叠于林间，如君子之德风也。有画如飞龙蟠虬，狂生枝叶者，非松之气韵也。古之贤人墨客好与松之结缘，以似高古之风度也。
岁次丙戌中秋于沪上西郊无尘画室
嘉定家芳