Chinese Poetry and Painting

http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/painting/4ptgyula.htm-Ni Zan's Still Streams and Winter Pines (Painting)



(Poem)



Swift wind, heaven high, an ape's cry of grief,At the islet of clear white sand, birds circle round.Endlessly, trees shed leaves, rustling, rustling down,Without cease, the great river surges, surges on.Ten thousand miles in sorrowful autumn, always someone's guest,A hundred years full of sickness, I climb the terrace alone.Suffering troubles, I bitterly regret my whitening temples,Frustratingly I've had to abandon my cup of cloudy wine.- Climbing High by Du Fu



The Connection



In Du Fu's Climbing High, He speaks of a lonely islet bordered in soft white sand where he has a lonely terrace where he ponders about all of the problems in his life, from his whitening hair to his long time of sickness. He speaks of the surroundings of trees and birds, which are shown in Ni Zan's Still Streams, and how he is accustomed to being in these surroundings.