Picturing past perfection

The sources

Literature, legends, and folklore contribute to another major theme in the shi'nyu tu. Following the rise of urban culture, art gradually expanded beyond the aristocracy and literati and became more public-oriented.

"A tradition of female-themed paintings was formed on the basis of texts," the curator says.

With shoulders shaped as if by carving,

Waist narrow as if bound with white cords.

This famous line from the 3rd-century rhyming prose poem about love, Luo Shen Fu (Ode to the Luo River Goddess), inspired many painters to set their imagination free and depict the perfect women of their hearts.

In one Song Dynasty exhibit, the spatial proportions are harmonious, with the main focus on the central axis of figures, which are depicted using simple yet vigorous lines. However, the unnamed painter anachronistically mixed costumes and settings of their time into this image, which is supposed to represent a period centuries earlier.

Other painters take a more rigorous approach to history. When another Song-era painter based Biographies of Exemplary Women on an earlier painting by Gu Kaizhi — which is itself based on a book from the Western Han period — the Han-style setting and artifacts he incorporated are correctly portrayed.

"Some even echo archaeological discoveries of Han relics," Xing adds. "This painting is of great value not only in terms of art, but also of history."