When we put the work to him

Thank you — that was quick. This is very good indeed, and the condition looks fine too. What is more, it says it was written at New Year.

I have no books to hand, so I checked on the web: the engagement was announced on 6 February, and the arranged meeting had been in November.

The two of them said afterwards that they fell for each other at that first meeting and decided on the spot; the date of the announcement, meanwhile, was set by the army, and until then a gag order was in force. So this poem is perhaps how he put what he felt at the time, when he could not say it openly.

The text is by the Chinese poet Du Fu. It says, roughly: in spring, when flowers and grasses are sweet, the swallows fly back and forth with mud in their beaks to build their nests, and on the warm sand the mandarin ducks are sound asleep.

A letter from the customer after the purchase

This was my first hanging scroll. When I bought it you took the trouble to teach me how to hang it and how to care for it, and I do as you said, putting it up and taking it down as the moment suits.

Ours is an ordinary household and we have had little to do with works of art until now, but my elderly parents, who live with us, like it very much.

I am interested in buying painting and calligraphy, but there is no end to it, so I keep to things where I feel strongly about the maker or the subject. The Pujie calligraphy turned up at just the right moment, so I bought it. The state of preservation is excellent, and once I had imagined the theme of the poem and the circumstances in which he wrote it, I decided at once.

It really is good to have it up. Because it means something to me, I find myself stopping in front of it and thinking. It is a quiet few minutes that settle the mind.

Once you have hung a scroll, the time while it is put away feels empty, so I mean to go on looking — a little at a time, and without hurrying — for things I like.

Thank you for everything you taught me. Please let me know when something good comes in.