前程似锦A Future Bright as Brocade

A stand of peonies rises from the foot of the scroll to its top in red, pink and yellow. A great red bloom crowns the composition, and two clear yellow flowers light up its middle. A pair of golden pheasants stands on a rock among the flowers: the golden-crested, red-breasted male lets his long tail fall as he and the female face each other, intent and still. The rock is lightly rubbed in with pale ink, and buds show behind it. The colour is rich but never muddy; the leaves are veined in ink and the flowers shaded in layers, careful and free brushwork side by side.

Jin, the brocade in the golden pheasant’s name, is also the brocade of the title’s idiom: a wish for an open road ahead, and success along it.

牡丹一丛，自画底直开至顶端，红、粉、黄三色交错，顶端大红一朵统摄全局，中部明黄两朵尤为鲜亮。锦鸡一对立于花间石上，雄者金冠朱胸，长尾垂落，与雌鸡相对而立，神情专注；湖石淡墨轻擦，石后微露花苞数枝。设色浓而不浊，叶以墨线勾筋，花以层层分染，工写相兼。

锦鸡之“锦”，亦即锦绣之“锦”。题曰“前程似锦”，寓前路光明、功业有成。