梅兰竹菊Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum

A set of four panels, one each for the plum, the orchid, the bamboo and the chrysanthemum, each titled in four characters and signed Jumei. Plum: a gnarled old trunk in heavy ink bends across the sheet, thick with red blossom, and two magpies on the left call to each other. Orchid: a clump of orchids grows among pebbles on a bank, long leaves open and airy, flowers in vermilion, and two sparrows flutter down. Bamboo: a few upright stems with leaves swept out in dark ink, two bamboo shoots breaking the ground and a rock beside them, two sparrows above. Chrysanthemum: a small bird looks down from the top of a craggy rock over large pink blooms and ink leaves.

Magpies on plum promise happiness. The orchid panel reads “Fragrance of the Nine Fields,” after the poet Qu Yuan; the chrysanthemum panel, “Autumn chrysanthemums, fragrant and bright.”

此为四条屏，梅、兰、竹、菊各一，每屏自题四字，署名菊梅。梅屏：老干虬曲，墨色浓重，自右上折而横出，红梅繁密，喜鹊两只栖于左侧，张喙相呼；兰屏：兰丛生于坡脚碎石间，长叶疏朗，花作朱红，两只麻雀翩然飞下；竹屏：墨竹数竿挺立，竹叶浓墨撇出，竹笋两株破土而出，旁倚一石，二雀上下翻飞；菊屏：坡石嶙峋，石顶小鸟一只回首俯视，石下菊花粉红硕大，墨叶浓淡相映。

梅兰竹菊世称“四君子”。喜鹊登梅，寓喜上眉梢；兰屏题“九畹幽香”，典出《离骚》“余既滋兰之九畹兮”；菊屏题“秋菊香艳”。四屏笔致轻快，设色明净，宜合观，亦宜分赏。