Detail from a triptych of scrolls, of geese in flight. The Metropolitan Museum description reads: "once formed part of a triptych flanking a central scroll that depicted the Daoist immortal Lu Dongbin (now in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City). This schema, cultivated and popular in Zen temples in Japan, reflected the desire to express the underlying unity of the natural and spiritual worlds. The flying, calling, sleeping, and feeding geese reference the four fundamental aspects of monastic life."
Today marks the beginning of "Lesser Cold" #小寒 in the lunisolar #microseason for the chilliest period of the year (小寒大寒，滴水成冰). More precisely, we are in Lesser Cold's first pentad, "When Wild Geese Fly Northward" #雁北鄉.
[Detail from 芦雁図 Reeds and Geese, 鉄舟徳済 Tesshū Tokusai, 1343 @metmuseum.org]
