【開箱．圖文書】夏小鱘｜四時夢談

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TitleDreams of the Four Seasons
Original TitleDreams of the Four Seasons
AuthorXia Xiao Xun
PublisherChina Zhi Gong Publishing House
Publication Date: 2015-07
Language：:Simplified Chinese
ISBN10: 7514508481
ISBN13: 9787514508482
BindingPaperback / 128 pages / 26 x 19 cm
PriceRMB ￥38.00
Gift5 postcards

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20230825

"Dreams of the Four Seasons" is a collection of watercolor illustrations by Chinese illustrator Xia Xiaoxun, published in 2015.

This is a paperback book with a bare spine, so it can be laid flat for viewing.

The cover illustration features a girl representing all four seasons, the title is in gold foil, and the entire book is decorated primarily in orange.

As the title "Dreams of the Four Seasons" suggests, this illustrated book is divided into four chapters: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each chapter features a story based on a heartwarming tale of interactions between four fairies—orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum—and humankind. The book also includes a short section featuring a story about a woman in green from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," and 13 pages of explanations of the watercolor painting process.

The soft watercolor brushstrokes complement the story perfectly, creating different landscapes for each of the four seasons. 🍁

Official Introduction

The picture book uses the four seasons as its main theme, depicting four dreamlike stories: Spring: A young man separated from his wife receives a request from a young woman to exchange orchids for a cup of morning tea. As time goes on, the orchids gradually increase in number. The young woman, Xiaozhu, turns out to be a migrating butterfly spirit who carries his wife's longing and brings the two together. Summer: A young man, Changdi, who is disapproved of by his father, runs into a bamboo forest in a huff and encounters a young woman named Qingsheng. The woman teaches him to recognize sounds and colors, finally helping him find peace. The young man, after the ups and downs of life... Finally, the true secret of the bamboo flute that held such high hopes was revealed; a young medicine boy fell while climbing a mountain to find medicine and was rescued by a butterfly girl. However, the aging of people goes against the butterfly girl's eternal life. When the medicine boy's apprentice sought out the girl who still looked the same and heard about this love story, the young boy from back then had already passed away...; a boy traveling in the snow encountered a hospitable Mei Yin and took him in. However, Mei Yin, who had heard all about the outside world, never truly appeared, and this place of refuge disappeared, leaving people wondering if it had ever truly existed.

Content

003 – Chapter of Spring. Butterfly Leaning on Orchid
019 – Summer Chapter. Bamboo Sound
045 – Autumn Chapter: Chrysanthemums and Separation
075 – Winter Chapter: Plum Blossom's Retreat
093 – Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: The Woman in Green
112 – Epilogue: An Unexpected Gift
114 – Xia Xiaoxun's Watercolor Private School

About the Author

Xia Xiao Xun

Her real name is Li Xiaru, and she is from Changsha, Hunan, China. She is a freelance illustrator, picture book author, and teacher. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the School of Design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and later pursued a master's degree in watercolor painting at the School of Fine Arts at Hunan Normal University, focusing on both artistic creation and teaching. She wishes to spend her life with her paintbrush, telling stories from her heart and creating paintings with warmth.

Representative works collection:Elf Handbook《Dream Talk of the Four Seasons《hairy《Forest Language《Seasonal Songs《Accompanying Summer《dreamer".