“Guarding the Phoenix Tree, Listening to the Sound of Books” – Seal Script Couplet by Shangguan Xiongying

Description :
This elegant seal script (Zhuan Shu) couplet is a self-composed work by Fujian artist Shangguan Xiongying, expressing a poetic mood of solitude, aspiration, and scholarly joy. The words describe a scene where one cultivates the heart under tall phoenix trees (梧桐), where old phoenixes rest—symbolizing nobility and peace—while the window frames beautiful waters, and the ear listens not to noise, but to the boundless sounds of books.

Executed in ancient Seal Script, the composition is solemn and refined, with a symmetrical vertical layout perfect for home, study, or library display.

Couplet Translation:

The heart guards the tall wutong tree where a few old phoenixes play;
The window frames the beautiful waters, listening to the myriad sounds of books.

Calligraphy Style:
Seal Script ( Zhuan Shu)

Format:
Couplet – 2 scrolls
Vertical layout

Dimensions:
138 × 34 cm × 2
(54 1/3 × 13 2/5 in × 2)

About the Artist:

• Shangguan Xiongying, from Guangze, Fujian

• Member of Fujian Couplet Society and Fujian Calligraphers Association

• Studied under Ouyang Zhongshi, Sun Wenjia, and more than ten national-level calligraphy masters

• Specializes in running script and Wei-style clerical script; awarded and exhibited across China for his calligraphy and stone inscription works