Admonitions of the Court Instructress
女史箴图
The earliest surviving Chinese narrative figure painting on silk — illustrations to a 3rd-century Confucian text instructing palace women on proper conduct. The Eastern Jin master Gu Kaizhi is the painter of record; the surviving handscroll is a faithful Tang-dynasty copy.
Object Facts
- Period
- Original: Eastern Jin (265–420); copy: early Tang (618–907)
- Date
- Tang-period copy (6th–8th c) of a 4th c original
- Artist
- Attributed to Gu Kaizhi (顾恺之)
- Medium
- Handscroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- 25 × 348.5 cm
- Held by
- The British Museum
London, United Kingdom - Accession
- 1903,0408,0.1
The British Museum — purchased 1903
Why it matters
Often called the 'Mona Lisa of Chinese painting'. The scroll bears collector seals from every imperial Chinese collection from the Tang to the Qianlong emperor and is the foundational document of the entire Chinese figure-painting tradition.
How it travelled
Last documented in the Qianlong imperial collection. Looted from the Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) by a British officer during the second Opium War sack of 1860; sold to the British Museum in 1903 for £25 — the most consequential single Chinese-art transaction in BM history.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see Admonitions of the Court Instructress?+
Admonitions of the Court Instructress is held by the The British Museum in London, United Kingdom. Accession number 1903,0408,0.1. Online catalogue record: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1903-0408-0-1.
When was Admonitions of the Court Instructress created?+
Admonitions of the Court Instructress dates to Tang-period copy (6th–8th c) of a 4th c original, during the Original: Eastern Jin (265–420); copy: early Tang (618–907).
Who made Admonitions of the Court Instructress?+
Admonitions of the Court Instructress is attributed to Attributed to Gu Kaizhi (顾恺之). The work is a handscroll executed in handscroll; ink and color on silk.
How did Admonitions of the Court Instructress end up at the British Museum?+
Last documented in the Qianlong imperial collection. Looted from the Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) by a British officer during the second Opium War sack of 1860; sold to the British Museum in 1903 for £25 — the most consequential single Chinese-art transaction in BM history.
Can I reuse the photograph of Admonitions of the Court Instructress?+
The image is in the public domain and free for any use. Crediting the British Museum is encouraged but not required.
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