China: The ‘Admonitions of the Court Instructress’ (5th to 8th century AD), painted to provide advice to imperial wives and concubines on how to behave in a manner befiting the Imperial Court.

The ‘Admonitions Scroll’ is a Chinese narrative painting on silk that is traditionally ascribed to Gu Kaizhi (ca. 345–ca. 406), but which modern scholarship regards as a 5th to 8th century work that may or may not be a copy of an original Jin Dynasty (265–420) court painting by Gu Kaizhi. The full title of the painting is ‘Admonitions of the Court Instructress’. It was painted to illustrate a poetic text written in 292 by the poet-official Zhang Hua (232–300) and composed to reprimand Empress Jia (257–300) and provide advice to imperial wives and concubines on how to behave in a proper manner.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd

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Pictures From History

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MANDATE OF HEAVEN