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

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

from the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

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

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

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 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 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 Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

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 Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, ...

’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