''Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon'' (人物御龍帛畫) is a Chinese painting on silk from the Warring States period (475-221 BC). It was discovered in the Zidanku Tomb no. 1 in Changsha, Hunan Province in 1973. Now in the Hunan Museum, 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 cm in length 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 is standing at the tail of the dragon. A carp 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 poet

Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician 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 Collections of the Hunan Museum {{China-stub