未画之山
a handscroll · five poems · one mountain The Unpainted Mountain

未画之山

unroll
壹 · I

鹿柴

Wang Wei, c. 740
空山不见人 但闻人语响 返景入深林 复照青苔上

Empty mountain — no one in sight, only voices, somewhere, sounding. Late light returns to the deep wood and burns once more on the green moss. deer park · translation made for this scroll

A brush that lifts too late ruins the stroke. A brush that lifts too early ruins the silence.

貳 · II

江雪

Liu Zongyuan, c. 810
千山鸟飞绝 万径人踪灭 孤舟蓑笠翁 独钓寒江雪

A thousand peaks, and no bird flies. Ten thousand paths, and no footprint stays. One boat. An old man in a straw rain-cloak, fishing alone the cold river's snow. river snow · translation made for this scroll

The painter of this scroll left the mountain unpainted. Every reader finishes it differently.

叁 · III

静夜思

Li Bai, c. 725
床前明月光 疑是地上霜 举头望明月 低头思故乡

Moonlight pools before my bed — for one breath I take it for frost. I raise my head: the bright moon. I lower it: home. quiet night thought · translation made for this scroll

读者即画者

The reader is the painter. Set your seal to close the scroll.

scroll closed