A Verse Composed to Match Guo Moruo's Inscription on Qi Baishi's Painting [I]
(1950)

In painting, creative conception knows no fixed rule; (Mao Zedong)
The sage of painting's heart is ever filled with poetry. (Guo Moruo)

[I] This is an inscription by Mao Zedong and Guo Moruo on a painting by Qi Baishi.

[2] Danqing (painting): In ancient Chinese painting, vermilion and cyan were commonly used, hence painting was called danqing. The line “In painting, creative conception knows no fixed rule” adapts a couplet from Su Shi’s (Song dynasty) poem “Written in the Drunken Ink Hall of Shi Cangshu”: “My calligraphy follows my mind and has no fixed method; dots and strokes come as I please, with no need for deliberation.”

[3] Sage (sheng) refers to one who has attained the highest level of mastery in a particular field. “Painting sage” means a great master of painting. The line “The sage of painting’s heart is ever filled with poetry” adapts Lu You’s (Song dynasty) phrase “This old man’s heart always holds a poem.”

Source image: The painting presented by Qi Baishi to Mao Zedong.