Child at Play on a Path by a Willow

In this painting is a peddler by the side of a willow tree. Near it he has stopped his single-wheel cart to sell various iced snacks and seasonal fruits. The drawers in his cart were a kind of refrigerator in ancient times and probably designed to keep the contents cold. According to a twelfth-century record in A Record of Dreaming of Hua in the Eastern Capital, there were already in the Song dynasty many treats of renown to cool down and enjoy in the heat of summer. The names of some of these treats include “Licorice soup with shaved ice,” “Dumplings with shaved ice,” “Pickled raw papaya,” and “Chilled lychee paste.” The direct and simplistic manner of rendering the figures in this work differ from the refined and naturalistic style of painting employed by Su Hanchen in the twelfth century.