One large and one small carp surge upwards though the swirling water, their protruding bodies giving evidence of the strength of their efforts. Symbolizing advantage in business, the carp was also a common metaphor for success in examinations and hence was a very appropriate gift for a budding scholar, encouraging him to exert effort comparable to that of the fish as it swims upstream and overcomes obstacles such as rapids. Although the fish are treated with a degree of verisimilitude, their scales are reduced to a repetitive, decorative pattern such that the bodies appear flattened, and the whole transformed into an abstract design of immediate visual impact and appeal. The composition is based on those of the Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century, which also featured large-scale fish presented within expansive formats, as opposed to Song and Yuan paintings of the subject which tended to be small in concept and scale.
Although the name with which this painting is signed could be Chinese, the aesthetic approach taken here seems not in accord with Chinese taste. It can thus be speculated that the painter was active in Japan, where this painting was acquired, perhaps a naturalized Chinese or, more likely, a Korean working in Japan like Yang Ki-hun and responding to local taste.
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