Chang Jian sees the fantastic
Refracted through a block of ice
An Ancient Theme Chang Jian The sunlight strikes the base of the well, Through ice like crystal jade; The winding gear has amber studs, The rope is green brocade. Caped in dawn, on phoenixes, The bright immortals ride, They winch up silver amphorae And illuminate the skies. A dragon soars; the icy cold Makes lotus flowers plume, Its mate alike has scales of gold, In its jaws it holds the moon. They float across the oceans, and are gone Beyond the reach of my eye; I’ll climb to look again at dawn A dozen stories high. 常建 古意 井底玉冰洞地明，琥珀辘轳青丝索。 仙人骑凤披彩霞，挽上银瓶照天阁。 黄金作身双飞龙，口衔明月喷芙蓉。 一时渡海望不见，晓上青楼十二重。
Inspired by something on Twitter, a very quick translation of a Chang Jian fantasia.
It feels like he just saw some really beautiful sunlight playing through crystal clear ice, and was inspired to invent a supernatural scene around it.
Here’s the tweet that inspired it, a seal cut nearly a thousand years later, that used one of the lines about the dragons.
https://twitter.com/ShanghaiMuseum/status/1783113040969511309
