Fishpond Mosaic

Fishpond Mosaic is an original illustration set in Pearl River Delta, China. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is humid subtropical — hot summers, no dry season.

A dense mosaic of irregular ponds is separated by thin dike lines, seen from high above. Rows of mulberry bushes and banana clumps grow along the dikes. One small sampan sits mid-pond, and the autumn afternoon light is level.

Why are fish ponds ringed with mulberry-planted dikes?

Ponds and dikes together are a single system: mud dug out to deepen the pond builds the dike, mulberry planted on the dike feeds silkworms, and their waste feeds the fish. Nothing leaves. That closed cycle developed on a low, waterlogged delta where drainage was the constraint and land had to be manufactured pond by pond.

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