A Polished Performance

洛中洛外図屏風 Scenes in and around the Capital Period:Edo period (1615–1868) Date:17th century Culture:Japan

Chen Shaomei (1909-1954)

Citizens of the polished capital
Sigh for the towns up country,
And their innocent simplicity.

People in the towns up country
Applaud the unpolished innocence
Of the distant villages.

Dwellers in the distant villages
Speak of a simple unspoilt girl,
Living alone, deep in the bush.

Deep in the bush we found her,
Large and innocent of eye,
Among gentle gibbons and mountain ferns.

Perfect for the part, perfect,
Except for the dropsy
Which comes from polished rice.

In the capital our film is much admired
Its gentle gibbons and mountain ferns,
Unspoilt, unpolished, large and innocent of eye.

by D. J. Enright

Chinese brush painting
Gibbons at Play, Emperor Xuanzong (1399-1435), Ming dynasty Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper.

Kasamatsu Japanese Woodblock Print Rice Planting 1953

Rice Sellers at the Military Station of Tong-Chang-Too, from ‘China in a Series of Views’ by George Newnham Wright (c.1790-1877) 1843

元忽哥赤和佚名耕稼圖卷
Rice Culture, or Sowing and Reaping
Unidentified Artist Chinese, mid-14th century
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:before 1353

Featured image: 洛中洛外図屏風 Scenes in and around the Capital: Edo period (1615–1868) Date:17th century. Culture:Japan

JosieHolford

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