Lao Shu’s Summer, 2026

The Other China

岑然自在，惟心一途

 

Lao Shu 老樹 is the nom de plume of Liu Shuyong (劉樹勇, 1962-), a Beijing-based artist, writer, critic and professor in communications. His artistic voice is unique and personal, its tenor, whimsy and profundity evoke what for decades we have called The Other China — a cultural noosphere that is as undeniably local as it is universal.

For more work by Lao Shu in China Heritage, see The Other China and Intersecting with Eternity. For his latest art work (and merch), see Lao Shu Paintings 老樹畫畫 online at NetEase 網易.

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According to the Solar Phases of China’s traditional traditional calendar — the 二十四氣節, that is — Summer Arrives 夏至 started on the twenty-first of June, while the Minor Heat 小暑, which ushers in the hottest weeks of the year, kicked off on the seventh of July. Next, the Three Fu Days 三伏天, or the Dog Days of summer, start on the fifteenth of July. They’ll continue up until the twenty-third of August. During those weeks, July twenty-fourth will mark the Great Heat 大暑.

In this latest addition to a China Heritage series on the northern summer season of 2026 we join Lao Shu once more as he offers a cooling selection of paintings and poems. This series also includes:

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岑然自在，惟心一途 is the rubric of this chapter in The Other China. We render it as:

‘always at peace, fulfillment in glorious isolation,
the only way worth following is one’s own heart.’

— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
12 July 2026

丙午馬年小暑


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From the Heat into the Hotpot 

Paintings and Poems by Lao Shu

Translations by Geremie R Barmé

The heat is being dialed up and
the fatties are feeling the stress.
Let me suggest, therefore, that they
best get together over hotpot.

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Soak in a lotus pond on a summer’s night
as the crescent moon glints down on you.
All those worldly cares — what are they?
The lot of them forgotten in an instant.

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See Lao Shu, siting there in the sun,
chopper in hand, hawking watermelons.
Once this lot’s all been sold off,
he’ll go and sow another crop.

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Plopped in a rocking chair on the terrace
flowers in full blossom all around him.
Looks like a rich man indulging himself,
as if he’s never even had to lift a finger.

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Disappearing on dry land, taking to the river wilds,
walking rather than driving, a thatch hut for home,
amenable to promotion as well as to demotion,
refined when required, commonplace when needed.
Always at peace, fulfillment in glorious isolation,
the only way worth following is one’s own heart.

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In this time of dry-heat
where can you cool off?
A summer breeze swells afar,
light rain falls on the lotus pond.

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As a professional fatty myself
summer is really quite a challenge.
Since I have no real appetite for lunch,
I’ll make do with this bunch of grapes.

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The height of summer is worst of all.
If possible, best cocoon yourself at home.
Whenever you step out you take a fan and
quench your thirst with a red- or green-bean ice block.

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Been tied up in all manner of business of late,
ne’er a moment to enjoy the new blossoms.
Finally, I take a load off at home and
have at it with a wedge of watermelon.

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