The+Admonitions+of+the+Court+Instructress

=**The Admonitions of the Court Instructress**=

Artwork Identification

 * Title: Admonitions Scroll
 * Artist: Gù Kâizhï
 * Date: 345-406
 * Period: Tang Dynasty
 * Country of Origin: China
 * Cultural/Ethnic Affiliation: Chinese
 * Medium: Red & Black Ink on Silk Handscroll
 * Dimensions: 343.75 x 24.37 cm
 * Museum/Collection: The British Museum
 * Accession Number: 1903,0408,0.1
 * Current Location and Manner of Display: Image is currently not on display. Digital image located on the North stairs.

Introduction
Gù Kâizhï's // Admonitions Scroll // allows for a look back at one of the earliest paintings from China. It is known as a "narrative painting" which mean the purpose is to tell a story. This particular scroll had the purpose of informing ladies how to act if they came to the palace. Text placed between each of the twelve scenes has further comments on how to behave, as well as stories of rulers and their wives. The other scenes provide wise words on how to make your life more fulfilled and honest. Overtime, Gù Kâizhï's original has disappeared. However, this copy from one of his students is believed, based on readings, to be a near-perfect match of the original. -the entry should focus on just this one scene.

Descriptive Analysis
In total, the //Admonitions Scroll// is 343.75 cm (135.3 in.) in length and 24.37 cm (9.59 in.) tall, forming a rectangle. Each of the twelve scenes on the scroll are 28.65 cm (11.3 in.) long. The silk handscroll, it is drawn upon, is tea-colored and has many tears, folds, and other imperfections throughout. The stamps of ownership from the previous owners, as is custom in China, cover the background of the image, making sure not to cover up any figures or important images. In between each scene, there is a short inscription that provides further clarification of the previous scene. There are three main colors present on the //Admonitions Scroll,// red, black, and the tea-colored background where no other color was filled in. However, in some of the scenes there are subtle green's and blue's used.

//**Scenes 1-3:**// The only knowledge of these three scrolls comes from written records, the scenes have been lost and never photographed. Only the inscriptions live on from these scenes.


 * //Scene 4://** Han emperor Yuandi is sitting on the right side of the image with his wife and two guards in the middle. A black bear is attempting to attack the emperor, but has been stopped by the guards, both of whom are holding spears. The emperor's wife is also seen on the left side of the image as she moves through the path of the black bear. Red, black, and the background are the only colors present in this scene. Ten unique marks have been made from the stamps of previous owners. One particularly large stamp appears to have been stamped twice, once on the right side between the emperor and his guards, and the other on the left side above the emperor's wife.


 * //Scene 5://** This is the shortest scene out of the twelve, although originally it appears to have been as long as the others, however it was found without the middle of the scene. What is left of the scene is very damaged, and makes the images difficult to make out, the woman on the right side is the only distinguishable image. On the right there is an inscription to further describe what is happening, which proves to be very useful because of the damages this scene has seen. There is a very large stamp on the right side, between the inscription and the female figure.


 * //Scene 6://** The sixth scene depicts a man shooting a crossbow in the direction of a tall mountain. The mountain is centered within the scene, with the man on the left and an inscription along the right side. To the right and the left of the mountain, in the sky, are the sun and the moon respectively. Two peasants are painted as figures on the mountain, and there is another enclosed within the sun. The man with the crossbow is kneeling down and has colorless garments on. This scene is the most colorful of the twelve, including red, black, green, blue, as well as the tea-colored background. The clouds in the sky look like waves wrapping around the sun and the moon. There are two stamps on the scene, the largest one being located on the left side above the man with the crossbow.


 * //Scene 7://** Scene seven shows two women sitting down, applying make-up and working on their hair. There is an inscription on the right side of this particular scene. The woman on the right side is looking at herself in a mirror and appears to be repositioning her hair. The woman on the left is also looking into a mirror and has a standing woman working on her hair, getting ready to put it in the traditional Chinese bun. In front of the lady on the left, there are four containers that could have contained either food or possibly make-up. This is another very colorful scene, with red, black, green, blue, and the tea-colored background. The two seated women are wearing colorless gowns, while the standing lady has a red top on with a green dress-like bottom. On the right, above the seated woman, there is another large stamp and a smaller one underneath her.


 * //Scene 8://** This scene shows a man and a woman sitting in bed and appear to be talking to each other. The right side of the image has an inscription to further explain what is happening in the scene. The bed has a roof on it, and has green colored curtains all around it, making it seem much more private. The woman is in bed, wearing a red top, the man is sitting at the edge of the bed, taking his shoes off. They are looking at each other and appear to be discussing something very serious. There is a small stamp on the right side, below the inscription.


 * //Scene 9://** The ninth scene has a very long inscription on the right side, but the main focus of the scene is the nine people sitting in a pyramid shape. At the top of the pyramid is an older gentleman reading a scroll to a young boy and girl sitting on either side of him. The older man, and the girl are wearing colorless clothes, but the boy is wearing a dark green cloak and has a red hat on. On the bottom left of the pyramid, there are two older women sitting down, each holding a young child. The young children are wearing red suspender-like clothing and they both appear to be crying, or at least very sad. The two older women are wearing colorless garments. Sitting across from the two older woman are an even older man and woman. The woman is wearing a red top, but colorless bottoms and the man is wearing completely colorless garments. Their is a large stamp in the upper left corner of the scene, and a small one at the bottom right.


 * //Scene 10://** As with all of the scenes, there is an inscription on the right edge of the scene. In the middle of the scene there is a woman walking towards the left side, where a man stands, looking back at her. The man is holding his hand up, telling the woman to stop walking towards him. The woman is wearing tea-colored long, flowing robes, similar to the man. The woman has a red scarf wrapped around her neck and blowing to the right, in the wind. Between the man and the woman, there is a very faint image of a large stamp, this same stamp appears on almost every one of the scenes.


 * //Scene 11://** Scene eleven is the smallest of the scenes, and is fully intact. On the right is the inscription seen on all of the scenes. The rest of the scene is taken up by a single lady sitting down in a very elegant dress, facing the left. The dress has red, tail-like ribbons coming off the back of the dress. Other than the red ribbons, the dress is colorless. Above the lady is a large red stamp, and below her are two more small ones.


 * //Scene 12://** The last scene of the //Admonitions Scroll// is different from all the other scenes, because there is no inscription. On the right side is a standing woman, writing something on a scroll. In the middle of the scene, are two women standing, facing each other and also facing the woman on the right. All of the women's clothing is mostly colorless except for a few red ribbons. The last scene is also covered in many stamps of ownership. Most of them are little and do not pull attention away from the painting, except for one large circular one that was placed between the women in the middle and the woman on the right.

Formal and Contextual Analysis
The overall point of the //Admonitions Scroll// was to tell stories of popular women, married to powerful men, that stood up to their husband on certain issues, but also stood behind him on other issues. A way to make your husband respect you and still feel your support for him. Also, it has messages of wisdom to live a good life, and make others around you respect you. Cite sources of information (British Museum?)


 * //Scene 1://** The first scene of the scroll has an inscription, telling women how to act. The inscription says Chinese women should be 'submissive and meek' when in the household.


 * //Scene 2://** This scene is the story of Lady Fan and her husband King Zhuang. King Zhuang is obsessed with hunting, and his wife thinks he is doing it too much, so to show her protest towards it she refuses to eat the flesh of any animal he kills for three years.


 * //Scene 3://** Scene three is about the Lady of Wei. Although she is very interested in music she instead tries to reform a type of sexually immoral music that her husband, the Duke of Huan, is very intrigued by.


 * //Scene 4://** Lady Feng, in scene four, sees a black bear charging at her husband, Han emperor Yuandi, and jumps in front of the bear to keep it from killing him. Just before the bear gets to Lady Feng, the emperor's guards run up and kill the bear before it kills her.


 * //Scene 5://** In scene five, Lady Ban tells her husband, Han emperor Chengdi, that she will not ride in the [|palanquin]with him because it will make him appear as a bad ruler for focusing on his wife when he should be focusing on the problems of his empire.


 * //Scene 6://** The style of scene six implies it was influenced by Western art. In Chinese art, the people are small, and the mountains are big but in this painting, the person is as tall as the mountain. Western art feels humans are the most powerful thing on the planet, this is different from the Chinese notion of nature being much larger and overpowering of humans. The inscription reads, 'To rise to glory is as hard as to build a mountain out of dust; To fall into calamity is as easy as the rebound of tense spring.' This inscription is showing the importance of working hard, because the only way to be great is to work hard, if you are mediocre you will fall.


 * //Scene 7://** The focus of scene seven is on the women fixing their hair, and applying make-up to improve their visual appearance. The inscription on the right of this scene says, 'Men and women know how to adorn their faces, But their is none that knows how to adorn their character.' Men and women have always focused on their appearance, however in order to be truly 'beautiful' you must make who you are inside more beautiful.


 * //Scene 8://** Scene eight shows an emperor seated next to his concubine on a bed. The inscription mentions that not being honest can make even the person that loves you most not trust you.


 * //Scene 9://** The many generations shown is scene nine show the importance of a close family. The inscription says, 'Let your heart be as locusts And your race shall multiple.' This scene wants people to be open with their love because it is the only way their race will continue on.


 * //Scene 10://** Scene ten shows a beautiful lady walking towards an emperor, until the emperor puts his hand up, signaling her to stop. The inscription, 'If by a mincing air you seek to please, Wise men will abhor you.' inferring that if you are genuinely kind and want to do good to a man, a wise man will consider himself to be very lucky to have you.


 * //Scene 11://** The lady sitting in a single position is simply doing her duty, or whatever her husband wants her to do. 'Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully; Thus shall you win glory and honour.' placing an importance on doing your job without making a big deal of it. The person that does their job everyday and is quiet about it, is the person that will get the most rewards.


 * //Scene 12://** Scene twelve shows a woman writing on a scroll and two ladies approaching to see what she is writing. It can be implied that the lady is writing this particular //Admonitions Scroll// and is getting ready to show it to her friends and other people so they can learn how to make their husband happy, while also making him respect you.



Personal Interpretations
The //Admonitions Scroll// is a unique and effective way of showing ways to act to get respected both in the home, as well as in the world. The stories of the ladies in the first five scenes show ways to act to get respect in the home, while the other eight scenes are more for ways to get respected in the community. Perhaps it was believed that if you could grasp, and live by all of these lessons, you would be considered pure and be guaranteed a good place in the afterlife.

The red marks from previous owners of the painting add to the excitement of the painting. Now that painting doesn't simply have ties to the fourth century, but instead all the centuries where it was owned by different families. There is one stamp that shows up on most of the scenes, and it looks like a maze. Just another unique thing this painting offers. This painting is also unique because of the lack of space in each scene. Other than the images there is no background, and also there is no line where one scene ends and another begins, instead it slowly transitions from one to the other. Because of the lack of background imagery, the artist went through great lengths to keep the characters in the frame. Gù Kâizhï achieves this through the tension between figures. By having the figures starring at one another or in interaction with each other it tends to 'lock' those figures in place instead of allowing them to move around the scene. Also, even without the inscriptions on each scene you would still have an idea of what was happening in each scene because of the spatial and psychological connection with each figure. The proximity keeps them related, and the body language allows you to have some idea what is happening without dialogue.

** //Printed Sources// **

 * === // Tregear, Mary. // Chinese Art // . New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1997. 90-91. Print. // ===

** //Online Sources// **

 * ** "British Museum - Search Object Details." // The British Museum › Welcome to the British Museum // . Trustees of the British Museum. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.  **
 * ** // MacGregor, Neil. "Admonitions Scroll › The British Museum." // The British Museum // . Trustees of the British Museum. // Web. 15 Nov. 2010 // . // **
 * "Scenes from the Admonitions Scroll." //Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities.// University of Virginia. Web. 10 Dec. 2010.