Thrift Store Scroll

[Mark S.]

Picked this up for $2… is it something that can be translated?  Also, kinda strange, it is mounted horizontally instead of vertically?  There are hangers on either end like you would see at the top of a normal vertical kakemono scroll.  My guess is this might be someone’s calligraphy class project and it got mounted strangely?  I don’t know why camera adjusted colors to make it look like it is two different pieces put together?  It’s all one piece. Thank you for your time.

 

[xiayang]

This is a Chinese 4-character idiom which goes back to the 18th century painter and calligrapher Zheng Banqiao (鄭板橋).  The calligraphy is meant to be read from the right to the left.  In left-to-right ordering it is:

 

難得糊塗

 

Literally translated, this means something like "rarely confused", but as is usually the case with these idioms, the proper meaning is a lot deeper.  You can find a long essay on this idiom here, if you're interested.

[Mark S.]

Wow!  Thank you for the in-depth response and taking the time to provide the reference.  I really do appreciate it.