Cao Zhi, a prince of the state of Cao Wei,     1    (fall) in love with an official’s daughter. However, she married his brother, Cao Pi, and the prince became disappointed. Later, he composed an     2    (emotion) poem about the love between the goddess and mortal. In the poem, he praises the nymph (女神)     3     her beauty.

“Gazing at her from afar,

She shines like the sun     4    (rise) above the rosy mists (迷雾) of dawn;

Observing her close by,

She is as bright as a lotus emerging from clear ripples (涟漪).”

In the 4th century, Gu Kaizhi, a Chinese artist,     5    (move) by the story. He illustrated the poem and created     6     we call the Nymph of the Luo River.   Unfortunately, the original 4th painting was lost. However, artists made several copies of it,     7    (probable) during the Song dynasty. The painting is in     8     form of a long scroll (卷轴), which describes the plot in sections. Let's unfold the scroll and find out about this beautiful story.

In the beginning, Cao Zhi travels with a group of attendants and has to cross the Luo River. Here, Gu Kaizhi gives full play to his artistic     9    (imagine). Through clever composition and application of vivid colors, he describes the meeting between Cao Zhi and the nymph, Fu Fei. She flows lightly and stops when she wants to go.     10    (attract) by her charm, Cao loses his heart to Fu Fei.