Plum & Apricot Blossoms

梅兄杏弟江南例

杏主梅賓薊北題

底藉郭駝法之巧

可忝莊叟物斯齊

田盤富於杏 茲游正值盛開 雨後益饒豔冶 向於雨 花室移盆 梅植於庭者同時放花 因各寫一枝 茲成是詩

書之乙巳暮春御筆

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To the south of the Yangtze River, plum trees blossom ahead of apricot trees. To the north of Peking, apricot trees are more predominant than plum trees. The base of the trees were grown using the skilful method outlined by Kuo T’o, and can humbly testify Chuang Tzu’s theory that everything is equal.

There are abundant apricot trees in the fields of Mount Pan, and during my visit there, the trees were in their full bloom. After the rain they looked so gorgeous. I planted their branches into large pots, and moved them from the flower house into the courtyard, facing the rain. They blossomed at the same time with the plum trees planted there, and so I painted a branch of each. Here a poem is composed.

Written by the Emperor in the spring of year 1785