Gu Kaizhi (Traditional Chinese: 顧愷之; Simplified Chinese: 顾恺之; Hanyu Pinyin: Gù Kǎizhī; Wade-Giles: Ku K'ai-chih) (c.344-406), is a celebrated painter of ancient China. According to historical records he was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and first painted at Nanjing in 364. In 366 he became an officer (Da Sima Canjun, 大司马参军). Later he was promoted royal officer (Sanji Changshi, 散骑常侍). He was also a talented poet and calligrapher. He wrote three books about painting theory: "On Painting" (画论), "Introduction of Famous Paintings of Wei and Jin Dynasties" (魏晋胜流画赞) and "Painting Yuntai Mountain" (画云台山记). He wrote: "In figure paintings the clothes and the appearances were not very important. The eyes were the spirit and the decisive factor." Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiÇŽntǐzì; also Simplified Chinese: 简化字; Traditional Chinese: 簡化字; pinyin: jiÇŽnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Events Emperor Mu succeeds Emperor Kang as emperor of China. ... Events December 31 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia Roman legions in Britain mutiny against the Roman Emperor and select Marcus as new Roman Emperor. ... Wuxi (Simplified Chinese: 无锡; Traditional Chinese: 無錫; Pinyin: WúxÄ«; former spellings: Wu-hsi, Wuhsi, or Wusih; lit. ... Jiangsu (Simplified Chinese: 江苏; Traditional Chinese: 江蘇; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-su; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsu) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... Events February 28 - Valentinian I is elected Roman emperor by the army. ... Events January 2, Alamanni cross frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire October 1 - Pope Damasus I becomes Bishop of Rome. ...

Gu's art is known today through copies of three silk handscroll paintings attributed (somewhat loosely) to him:

Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies

Part of the scroll(女使箴圖)

This painting - probably a Tang dynasty copy - illustrates nine stories from a political satire about Empress Jia (賈后) written by Zhang Hua (张华 c. 232-302). Beginning in the eighth century, many collectors and emperors left seals, poems, and comments on the scroll. The "Admonitions" scroll was stored in the emperor's treasure until it was looted by the British army in the Boxer Uprising in 1900. Now it is in the British Museum collection, missing the first two scenes. Restoration specialists working on the scroll used the wrong materials and caused it to become brittle, so it can only be displayed flat. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (928x529, 46 KB) From zh wiki File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gu Kaizhi ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (928x529, 46 KB) From zh wiki File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gu Kaizhi ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Zhang Hua (張華) (232-300), courtesy name Maoxian (茂先), was a Jin Dynasty (265-420) official and poet. ... Events Relics of St. ... Diocletian begins passing laws against Christians. ... Boxer forces in Tianjin The Boxer Rebellion (traditional: 義和團起義 simplified: 义和团起义 , Pinyin: Yìhétuán Qǐyì) was an uprising against Western commercial and political influence in China during the final years of the 19th century. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold and Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ...

Nymph of the Luo River (洛神赋)

"Nymph of the Luo River" survives in three copies dating to the Song dynasty. It illustrates a poem written by Cao Zhi (曹植 192-232). One copy is held by the Palace Museum of Beijing; another is at the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C. The third was brought to Manchu by the last emperor Pu Yi (溥仪 1906-1967) while he was the puppet emperor of Manchukuo under Japanese rule. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945 the painting disappeared. After ten years the Liaoning provincial museum recovered it. The Song Dynasty (Chinese: ) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... Cao Zhi (曹植 192 – 232) was a Chinese poet during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. ... Events The kingdom of Champa begins to control south and central Vietnam (approximate date). ... Events Relics of St. ... Beijing [English Pronunciation] (Chinese: 北京 [Chinese Pronunciation]; Pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ), a city in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... Categories: Stub ... Aisin-Gioro Puyi (February 7, 1906 - October 17, 1967) was the Xuantong Emperor (宣統皇帝) of China between 1908 and 1924 (ruling emperor between 1908 and 1912, and non-ruling emperor between 1912 and 1924), the tenth (and last) emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to rule over... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Manchukuo (1932 to 1945) (Simplified Chinese: 满洲国; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲國; Pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu Guó Kanji: 満州国) was a former country in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia under the leadership of the Emperor Puyi, the last emperor of Qing Dynasty. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Liáoníng) is a northeastern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Wise and Benevolent Women

Little scholarship on this painting seems to exist in English.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gu Kaizhi

• The Admonitions Scroll in the British Museum