''Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon'' (人物御龍帛畫) is a Chinese painting on

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

from the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(475-221 BC). It was discovered in the Zidanku Tomb no. 1 in

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

Hunan Province Hunan is an inland province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and Guizhou and Chon ...

in 1973. Now in the

Hunan Museum The Hunan Museum () is the provincial museum of Hunan, China. It was built in 1951 and opened to the public in July 1956. It is located in the provincial capital Changsha at No. 50, Dongfeng Lu next to the Revolutionary Martyr's Park. It spans a ...

, it is one of the " Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad", announced by the Chinese government in 2002. The painting is in a rectangular shape, 37.5 cm in height and 28 cm in width. The silk cloth is dark brown in colour with a flat-line pattern. It is both one of the oldest Chinese paintings and one of the oldest silk paintings in existence.

Descriptions

A man with a sword is riding a dragon by holding the rein. The dragon's body was given the shape of a boat. A little

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

is standing at the tail of the dragon. A

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

under the dragon is leading the way. The umbrella in the top middle of the picture shows the owner's nobility. The work has become associated with the

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

poet

Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BC) was a Chinese poet and aristocrat in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...

’s famous verse from his poem ''Shejiang'' (涉江, Setting foot in the river), ‘Carrying a long sword with weird colour; Wearing a qieyun–styled high cap.” (帶長鋏之陸離兮, 冠切雲之崔嵬)

References

External links

''Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon'' - The Chinese Culture Heritage Protection Web Site
(Chinese) Chinese paintings Paintings of dragons Collection of the Hunan Museum 1st millennium BC in China {{China-stub Archaeological discoveries in China 1st-millennium BC works 1973 archaeological discoveries Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad