My brother in law has this ink painting with Chinese calligraphy he wants to hang in his office. He would like to know what the Chinese means to avoid potential embarrassment, the type you get with a Chinese tattoo that translates as “I am a moron.” I could translate the Chinese, but I can’t recognize most of the characters, which has to do with me being not that good at reading calligraphy and this particular one looking to me rather like “scribblings of a crow.”
I think on the right side we have these characters
竹解 _ 為擊友 _ 節碧 _ 伴清風 [something about friendship]
On the left side, I gave up even trying. There is a 太 down there, maybe a 左 and a 風…
Fun interpretation: This picture/poem is better hung in the office of a self-aggrandizing Chinese official, to imply that he him is one of the few uncorrupted loners in the entire administration (but the irony is he IS corrupted. This is because the author of the poem/the painter uses 清風breeze to imply himself)
Yes you’re right, if we know the context involves the lake. However it is possible to describe the bamboo as waves of lush green. By doing so, the author compels the audience to focus on only two elements, which are just the bamboo, and the wind(himself), without introducing a third element that is arguable unnecessary.
Customary in classical oriental culture that a painting comes with a poem. In this case the author is more of a poet than a painter. He is a humble poet though, deliberately making his writings small compared to the Bamboo (which is the subject of his poem, perhaps his role model).
