The main artist, Cheng Zhenkui, qualified as a Jinshi during the early Shunzhi reign, cf. Zhongguo Meishujia Renming Cidian, A Dictionary of Chinese Artist Names, Shanghai, 1989, no. 1092. As such, the cyclical guimao date is likely to correspond to 1663, the second year of the Kangxi reign. The additional calligraphy bears the designation, Nanfu, Northern Hill, which identifies the left-handed artist, Gao Fenghan (1683-1748), ibid., no. 787.

The text may be translated as:
Smoky mist trapped low among the trees,
the day is bright with rosy clouds.
Glistening flames dazzling in Spring air,
the lake spreads out in its frozen stillness.
Snowy-white egrets fly far and near,
islets shoot out of the cold depths.
The river flows back in its great expanse,
as water twists melancholy along its travel.

It is signed with the characters: Guimao Cheng Zhenkui Kuihua, which may be translated as: 'Guimao (1663) Cheng Zhenkui executed this calligraphy'.