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concept:era medieval

Admonitions of the Court Instructress

Handscroll attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c. 344–406 CE), likely preserved as a Tang dynasty copy of an Eastern Jin original. Ink and colour on silk; currently in the British Museum, London. Illustrates the 'Admonitions of the Court Instructress' (女史箴, Nüshi Zhen), a poem by Zhang Hua (232–300 CE) instructing women of the imperial court in virtue. One of the oldest surviving examples of Chinese figure painting and the foundational work for the study of early Chinese narrative scroll painting.

Scholarly Significance

Earliest surviving attributed Chinese figure painting; foundational document for Chinese art history and portraiture theory.

Notes

  • ·The scroll's text (Nüshi Zhen) by Zhang Hua was composed c.292 CE — predating Gu Kaizhi by approximately 50 years.
  • ·The composition is divided into scenes separated by text passages; each scene illustrates a moral episode from the poem.
  • ·The figure style — long-limbed, flowing robes, minimal modelling — is consistent with descriptions of Eastern Jin painting in Zhang Yanyuan's Lidai Minghua Ji (847 CE).
  • ·Seals of the Qianlong Emperor (Qing) visible on the scroll.
  • ·A second version of the scroll exists in the Palace Museum, Beijing — also believed to be a copy rather than an original.