Names, and the people behind the lines

Moon on the river. A line you can say: 举头望明月.

A courtyard garden after rain. He wrote the people’s weather.

A pavilion over the river. 落霞与孤鹜齐飞 is the line people still quote.

Bathed in moonlight. The picture is the full moon, not a lantern.

Clear and mild. Willows in a bright spring, the weather the name asks for.

Hills on the horizon. A little distance, a little longing.

A bright lantern. The card is the lantern fair, not the moon.

Letters and ink. The picture is the brush on paper.

Listening to the qin. The instrument in the painting is the name.

Tasting tea. A quiet name, a cup on the table.

Climb high. The painting is the autumn ridge, not a garden.

Flying eaves. The roof curve is the picture, not a swallow in flight.

Wind at first light. The sky in the card is dawn.

Plum in the cold. Blossoms, not snow for its own sake.

Green bamboo. The grove is the name.

Lotus heart. Water lilies, not a summer lantern.

Snow on the river. The painting is the snow, not plum blossom.

Autumn water. The season in the painting is fall.

A clear stream. Water, not hills.

Holding jade. A quiet virtue, painted as jade, not as a mountain.