One Hundred Crabs

Tall reeds bend gracefully over a bank of grass while a host of crabs scuttle along the water’s edge, pincers held high. The crab was a standard subject of paintings, and like bamboo and orchids lent itself to expressive brushwork. Originally mounted as four hanging scrolls, this composition has a panoramic effect—difficult to achieve in the single, hanging-scroll format. The shorter of the two inscriptions reads: One hundred crabs, Set free in river or lake They come and go as they please. Reeds continue through the end of spring And the fragrant mayweed through autumn; Throughout their lives they are unwilling To lower their paired eyes, Hoping to see to the end of the pure And sometimes muddy stream. Painted and inscribed by Zhao Guangqi during an autumn month in 1835