Chinese Embroidery-any meaning to this theme?

We have owned this framed embroidery for around 10 years. It has a translation of the words and a translation of its origin. But the theme of the picture is so strange that I wonder if it has a special meaning-a legend or myth-connected to it. Any ideas? Any thoughts on age?

The translation says, "The shadow of the playing sea-frog is floating on the waveless water." This came from "an embroidery shop in a city (translated Long Beach) in Hunan Province (Middle China)."

The red seal is the signature of the artist.

 

No clue but the seal is termed a 'chop'.

 

It's a Haiku poem... syllable count, 3 lines, 5 - 7 - 5, right? And a typical one, dealing with nature and its motions.
Haikus are Japanese...not sure how yours came from China. Then again, people everywhere write Haikus... even Mexicans!

 

A couple thoughts that may meaning nothing at all.

Since the only figure in the image has a human look, perhaps there is a story about a sea-frog who was transformed into a human. But when he looks at his reflection in the water he's still a frog. ??

Second, the poem says "wave-less water" but the picture has a lot of waves. Mis-translation?

 

Oh - and a question. Is it really embroidery? The pic isn't close enough to tell, but if you had not said it was, I would have assumed watercolor.

 

Yes, it is embroidery. Silk threads. If the back paper were removed you could see the ends of the threads. It's just such a strange subject that I thought it might have some meaning. Not my favorite piece by any means.

 

I will look to see if I can find any Chinese myths about a sea frog/human. I'm not at all familiar with Chinese mythology so it's back to the library I go. Thanks for the thought.