顺Shun: Smooth Going

A fabric picture on white damask. Across the top runs a trellis bar of rolled pale green cloth, bound with strips of blue-violet, and a luffa vine climbs along it with hand-shaped leaves in darker and lighter greens and two yellow flowers, a large and a small, their hearts tufted with orange thread. The tendrils are loose loops of dark green thread that curl and dangle freely, and two bees follow them in, their bodies of pink cloth striped in black, their thin wings edged with gold.

Look again at what hangs below. On the left, three luffas, one curved and two straight, make the three strokes of the character chuan; on the right, one large gourd is bent into the shape of ye, with a hooked top stroke, a window holding three short bars, and two feet. Together they spell shun, “smooth going.” The gourds wish that all things go well, and the title takes the character they form.

此为布艺贴画，以白色提花绸为地。上横瓜架一杆，以浅绿布卷成，间以蓝紫布条缚之；丝瓜藤叶攀附其上，掌状绿叶深浅相间，黄花一大一小，花心簇以橙色丝线。卷须以墨绿丝线盘绕垂落，随意舒卷；蜜蜂两只循须而来，蜂身粉布墨纹，薄翼镶以金边。

细看架下：左侧三根丝瓜并垂，一弯二直，恰成“川”字；右侧一枚大瓜曲折成形，上有横折，中开一窗，内伸三齿，下分两足，正是“页”字。合而观之，乃一“顺”字。以瓜成字，寓诸事顺遂。题目即取此字。