红梅Red Plum Blossom

A small round painting on card. An old plum branch reaches in from the lower right, its trunk rubbed in with the side of a pale-ink brush, aged and mottled, while new twigs in dark ink thrust up firmly toward the upper left. Red blossom is dotted along them, the petals dabbed in vermilion and rouge without outline and the stamens drawn in ink, open and in bud, dense and sparse by turns. There is only this one branch and a wide field of bare card, like a clear sky after snow.

The painting has no title, only a seal; this one describes the picture. The red plum, first to flower in the cold, stands for constancy and the coming of spring.

此为卡纸圆光小品。老梅一枝自右下斜出，主干以淡墨侧锋擦写，苍老斑驳；新枝以浓墨写出，挺劲有力，向左上伸展。红梅点点，以朱红与胭脂没骨点瓣，墨笔勾蕊，或开或苞，疏密相间，生机勃发。画面仅此一枝，大片留白如雪后晴空，简洁清雅。

此幅未题画名，仅钤一印，题目依画意拟定。红梅凌寒先放，寓坚贞不屈、报春迎新。