Koi Carp Carrying a Lantern-Lit Pagoda Town

A huge koi carp swims through a pond, its cream body marked with red, mustard, purple and blue patches decorated with waves, clouds, moons and blossoms. On its back stands a small town: a wooden pagoda with glowing lanterns, a tea house, two arched wooden bridges, a bronze temple bell and a potted bonsai tree. Strings of paper lanterns run between the buildings. Tiny people cross the bridges, one fishes from the head, two sit on a pectoral fin with fishing lines, and children perch near the dorsal fin. Pink water lilies, lily pads, cattails, rocks, tadpoles, smaller fish, dragonflies, snails and paper boats fill the water around it. The big color patches on the carp's body and the lily clusters in the pond make clear landmarks, so each part of the picture has its own look.