Overview
The scroll illustrates the Admonitions of the Court Instructress, a poem written in 292 by Zhang Hua as moral instruction for the ladies of the court. The painting is traditionally attributed to the Eastern Jin master Gu Kaizhi (c. 345–406), and the original composition is conventionally dated to around 380.
Description
Nine of the original twelve scenes survive on the celebrated scroll in the British Museum. Scholars today generally regard it not as Gu Kaizhi’s own work but as a later copy, dated by many between the 5th and 8th centuries, of a composition from his time.
History and legacy
The scroll was taken from Beijing around 1900 and entered the British Museum in 1903. A separate Song-dynasty copy is kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing. As one of the earliest surviving Chinese narrative paintings, it has long served as a touchstone for the entire tradition of scroll painting.