Plum Snow Listeners

Once there were two musician siblings who, though blind, could discern the world through music, knowing colors by sound, especially skilled at using melodies to combat enemies. People of the jianghu said that when they played, plum blossoms would shed snow and subtle fragrances would surge forth, as if dotting snow with wonder, thus earning the name Plum Snow Listeners. During heavy snow in Chang'an, the two played beneath plum trees, attracting a flute player who stopped in the snow and joined without a word, kindred spirits meeting entirely through music. The three composed songs of winter cold, capturing the character of pine, bamboo, and plum. Pine and bamboo melodies were completed, but only the plum song remained unfinished, a fragment, which is truly regrettable.