Song Zhiwen's Layered Peaks

The couplet was composed by the Chinese poet Song Zhiwen (656?–712) and reads: “Layered peaks: from of old, here grow trees, thousands of feet tall; Distant ravines: from the origin, here fly waterfalls, hundreds of fathoms high.” 層巒舊長千尋木　遠壑初飛百丈泉 Ike Taiga was one of the leading literati painters. He inscribed this poem on paper that is glittering with mica, powdered mineral crystals that were sprinkled on a layer of glue on the paper. It was originally meant to be used as a folding fan, which would have been mounted on wooden sticks.