依样After the Pattern

A square sheet. A gourd vine hangs from the top, its large round leaves splashed in pale ink and blue-green and veined in dark ink, wet and fresh. Three orange gourds hang or lean among them, washed in without outline, their waists softly turned, while the tendrils curl away toward the lower right in pale ink. On the lowest gourd a bright green praying mantis raises its forelegs and looks back; above, two insects face each other as if about to fight.

The title at the upper left, “After the Pattern,” plays on the saying “to draw a gourd after the pattern,” meaning to copy faithfully, a gentle joke. The gourd, hulu, sounds like fulu, fortune and rank; the vine stands for many generations.

此为斗方。葫芦藤自上方垂下，叶大而圆，以淡墨与青绿泼写，再以浓墨勾筋，水色淋漓；橙黄葫芦三枚，或垂或倚，没骨晕染，腰身圆转；藤须以淡墨盘绕，向右下舒展。下方葫芦上伏螳螂一只，举臂回首，通体嫩绿；上方两虫相对，似欲相争，平添野趣。

左上题“依样”，取俗语“依样画葫芦”，诙谐有味。葫芦谐“福禄”，藤蔓谐“万代”，寓福禄绵长。