紫气东来Purple Air from the East (hanging scroll)

An old wisteria vine hangs from the top of the scroll, its trunk written in dark ink, looping back on itself while fine pale tendrils wind around it. Clusters of blossom hang to left and right in layered violet, lilac and rouge, flecked with gamboge yellow; the leaves are washed in pale green and ochre without outlines, the young ones touched with red. At the lower right six swallows fly in a loose band, black-winged and fork-tailed, each with a dab of red at the throat. A last strand of vine trails down into the empty paper, so the picture is dense above and open below.

The title at the upper left, dated autumn 2024, reads “Purple Air from the East,” an old sign of good fortune: legend says a gatekeeper saw purple vapor drifting from the east just before the sage Laozi arrived. The wisteria’s color answers the phrase, and the swallows bring spring.

紫藤老蔓自画顶垂下，藤干以浓墨写出，盘曲回环，淡墨细藤缠绕其间。花穗数串分垂左右，紫、青莲、胭脂层层点染，间缀藤黄小点，鲜明灵动；叶以淡绿、赭石没骨写出，嫩叶微红。画幅右下，燕子六只结队斜飞，墨羽剪尾，颔下一点朱红，姿态各异。左下余蔓一缕垂入空白，上密下疏，开合有度。

左上题“紫气东来”，署甲辰秋月。相传老子西出函谷关，关令尹喜望见紫气自东而来，后世遂以为祥瑞之兆。紫藤花色正应“紫气”，燕子翩然归来，更添吉庆。