The Four Seasons as depicted in the Sino-Barbarian Hall

The poem on the spring scene read:
The vital forces of heaven turn creation around;
The world is happy and everything is renewed.
The peach and the plum blossoms vie in splendour;
Swallows fly to the painted rafters, shaking the incense dust.

The poem on the summer scene read:
In warm and sultry air all thoughts are slow
The palace mallow and pomegranate reflect the sun's brilliance.
The jade flute's music disturbs the noonday dream;
The scent of caltrops is wafted through the curtains.

The poem on the autumn scene read:
One leaf on the parasol tree by the well is yellow;
The pearl curtain is not rolled up on the night of frost.
After the autumn sacrifice the the swallows abandon their nest;
When the rush flowers snap, the wild geese leave for another land.

 The poem on the winter scene read:
The clouds fly over the rainy sky, all dark and cold;
The north wind blows the snow into thousands of bills.
Deep in the palace the stove glows warm;
They say the plum has blossomed by the jade balustrade.

The matching poem on the spring scene read:
The sun's warmth melts the ice the world around;
Within the palace garden, flowers are renewed.
Gentle winds and rain enrich the people;
Rivers and seas are calm; gone is all wordly dust.

The matching poem on the summer scene read:
The Dipper now points south; the day goes slow;
Locust and pomegranate trees contend in brilliance.
Golden oriole and purple swallow sing in the willows,
Their melodious voices drifting through red curtains.

The matching poem on the autumn scene read:
Fragrant the green mandarin; the orange turns to yellow.
Blue pine and cypress welcome frost's coming.
Half-open chrysanthemums make a tapestry on the trellis;
Pipes and songs waft through the watery, cloud-covered land.


The matching poem on the winter scene read:
As skies clear after welcome snow the air is cold;
Grotesque-shaped crags and boulders mark jade hills.
As charcoal burns in the stove to warm the yoghurt
Singing with hands in their sleeves they lean on jade balustrades.



* Information derived from Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'En *