喜盈门Joy Fills the House

In the upper part an old plum branch slants across the scroll, its boughs written in dark and pale ink and dotted with red blossoms, some open, some still in bud, washed in rouge as if their fragrance drifted on the air. On the branch a pair of magpies perch facing each other, black-backed and white-bellied: one opens its beak to call, the other tilts its head to answer, set down in a few free strokes. Below, peonies open in purple-red, peach, crimson and gold, full-headed and shaded petal by petal, their leaves splashed in wet ink, dense where the plum above is open.

The title on the right reads “Joy Fills the House”. The magpie brings good news, the plum, mei, sounds like the word for eyebrows, “joy up to the brows”, and the peony stands for wealth: together a blessing of happiness at the door.

画幅上部，老梅横斜，枝干以浓淡墨写出，红梅点点，或开或苞，胭脂晕染，似有暗香浮动；梅枝之上，喜鹊一双相对而栖，墨羽白腹，一只张喙欲鸣，一只侧首相应，笔墨简率，意态生动。下部牡丹盛开，紫红、桃红、朱红与金黄数朵错落相依，花头饱满，瓣瓣分染；叶以淡墨泼写，浓淡相生，与上方疏朗的梅枝形成一密一疏的对照。

右侧题“喜盈门”。喜鹊报喜，梅谐“眉”，有“喜上眉梢”之意；牡丹寓富贵，合而为喜气盈门、家宅兴旺之祝福。