Shonenko (Youth setting out)

A Chinese youth rides a white horse along a lake-side road, using a willow branch for his riding crop. The young man's servant waits patiently ahead for him to catch up, whilst a fisherman dozes on the bank. This scene is based upon a classical Chinese poem the 'Youth's Song' by Cui Guofu (active early 700s), which tells of a wealthy young man who loses his riding crop on the way home from the brothel district of Zhangtai and is forced to substitute it for a branch of willow.