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Wang Ch’i (Sung dynasty) has left no information about himself other than what can be derived from a few poems. Here, he provides us with the sequence of attention in this small garden, which is probably somewhere south of the Yangtze, perhaps in the Southern Sung capital of Hangchou. It was during this period that the plum came to symbolize Chinese resistance to Khitan aggression and the loss of North China, and it was planted extensively in the Hangchou area. See, for example, Sung Po-jen’s Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom. As plum blossoms fall in early spring they are replaced in this garden by the ruby-tipped flowers of the begonia, which are joined by the white, grandiflora blooms of the Chinese raspberry, or Rubus rosifolius var. commersonii, both of which then give way to summer greenery. The name t’ien-chi (some editions have yao for t’ien, apparently a copyist error) sometimes referred to the Chinese asparagus vine, but here it refers to the willow.

Visiting a Private Garden in Late Spring

WANG CH’I

Once the plum casts off its faded charms

fresh rouge graces the begonia

which lasts until raspberry petals are gone

and willow catkins hang across the mossy wall