清 徐祥 小鳥水仙 扇面

📝ONGO's Reflection

This is a small bird and narcissus that the Qing dynasty painter Xu Xiang drew on a fan. Within the narrow fan surface, he held bird and flower neatly. Though it came from the tradition of Chinese painting, its charm reaches anywhere. I see, in this small scene, the skill of handling a confined space. Even in the narrow place of a fan, the painter unfolded a world without any sense of constraint. It is not only when space is broad that good things can be held. Even if the place given is small, how one fills it matters more. The heart that tends a small place richly makes a great world.