Lady's Tale - Lady's Tale

This scroll painting was done by Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin dynasty in China, who was hailed as the greatest master of painting of all time for his theories on painting. It is a pictorial version of the book "Nushizhi," compiled by Zhang Hua (232-300) of the Western Jin dynasty to instruct women in the ethics and morals of the court. The term "Nushi" refers to the female court attendants who were close to the queen, knew how to read and write, and were in charge of record-keeping.

The original by Gu Kaizhi has been lost, and a copy believed to be from the early Tang Dynasty is in the possession of the British Museum in London. The scroll is 349.3 cm long and 24.8 cm wide, painted on finely woven silk. There are nine illustrations in total, but only the first one is missing text. All of the illustrations are mainly line drawings with washes, but as figure paintings were the artist's forte, they are filled with mysticism and are considered masterpieces in the history of Chinese painting. The Tohoku University Library has copies made by Kobayashi Kokei and Maeda Seison, who traveled to England in 1916 (Taisho 5), and another copy of a later date is in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

[Shinichi Nagai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

その画論によって、古今に絶する画聖とうたわれた中国東晋(とうしん)時代の顧愷之(こがいし)の画巻。西晋の張華(ちょうか)（232―300）が宮廷に仕える婦女に倫理道徳を説くためにまとめた書『女史箴』を絵画化したもので、女史とは王妃の側近にはべり、文字を知り、記録をつかさどる女官のことである。

　顧愷之筆の原本は失われ、初唐の模本と推定されるものがロンドンの大英博物館に所蔵されている。図は巻物形式をとり、長さ349.3センチメートル、幅24.8センチメートル、細かい織り目の絹地に描かれている。全9図あるが、最初の1図のみ本文を欠く。全図とも線描を主とし、淡彩を施しているが、人物画は筆者のもっとも得意としたものであるため、神気が横溢(おういつ)し、中国絵画史を代表する名品とされてきた。東北大学図書館には、小林古径(こけい)と前田青邨(せいそん)が1916年（大正5）に渡英して直接模写したものが所蔵され、ほかに制作年代の下る別種の模本が北京(ペキン)の故宮博物院にある。

［永井信一］

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