Lady of Guo on a Spring Outing
3 min readPainter: Zhang Xuan
Painting Year: the Tang Dynasty
Material: silk scroll
Dimension: vertical length of 51.8 centimeters and horizontal length of 148 centimeters Collection Place: Liaoning Museum
Lady of Guo on a Spring Outing is a famous painting drawn by Zhang Xuan in the Tang Dynasty. It depicts that the Lady of Guo went for a spring outing with her relatives and attendants in the 1lth year of the Tianbao Period in the Tang Dynasty(752), showing the luxurious lives of the Yang sisters. Lady of Guo was the third elder sister of Consort Yang. She was also accompanied by Lady of Qin.
There is no background in the picture but the brilliant spring sights could be sensed through the clothes and actions of people and the calm paces of horses. The fgures in the picture are plump and graceful, refecting the aesthetic taste that”plumpness was beauty”in the Tang Dynasty. The shapes of horses are plump and powerful. Their bodies are fat while their legs are thin, full of rhythmic feelings. The picture is rhythmically composed with density and sparseness, which looks irregular but natural. The lines are thin, delicate, mellow and fluent. Brilliant and elegant colors were applied, making the picture look graceful and vivid.
The original copy of the painting has been lost. This is the facsimile made in the Song Dynasty.
The Yang Family
During the Tianbao Period of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong was very fond of Princess of Shou Yang Yuhuan. He took her into the imperial palace and gave her the title of”High-ranked Consort.”Then he appointed Yang Guozhong, cousin of Yang Yuhuan, as the Prime Minister and gave him great power. Yang Yuhuan’s three sisters were respectively titled as Lady of Han, Lady of Guo and Lady of Qin. They often walked into and out of the internal palace.
A1l members of the Yang family lived luxurious lives, thanks to Consort Yang Yuhuan. However, Emperor Xuanzong indulged himself in the sensual pleasures and ignored the national governance, which finally led to the breakout of the”An-Shi Rebellion.”
Zhang Xuan
Art Master
He was a painter in the Tang Dynasty but his birth date and death date remain unknown. He came from Jingzhao (today’s Xi’ an, Shaanxi) and was known for painting noble women and childes, as well as horses, palaces and gardens. He was especially good at painting beautiful ladies. The beauties drawn by Zhang Xuan wereusually plump and wore luxury clothes. Their brows were usually thin and curved while their faces were usually full and round. He usually used bright red to decorate the earlobes of people.
The Maids
The buns and clothes ofmaids were apparently different from the noble ladies’. There were usually no red tassels below their horse necks and their saddles were smaller than the noble ladies’.
Lady of Guo and Lady of Qin
Lady of Guo was riding a horse and moving in a calm pace.Lady of Qin seemed to be speaking to her.People in the Tang Dynasty thought plump girls were beautiful.The women in the picture had typical images of females in the Tang Dynasty.Lady of Guo and Lady of Qin had high buns which drooped towards one side.They wore loose clothes of the Tang Dynasty.Red tassels were hung below the necks of their horses，which showed their noble status.People and horses in the picture were drawn through iron-line sketching.Thus the lines were thin but powerful，mellow but fuent，fully refecting the brilliant colors and plmp fgures.
Brief Background
Iron-line Sketching
Iron-line Sketching refers to a way of painting figures in ancient China and was suitable for depicting solemn and stately images. Figures drawn by this method have lines which have even thickness and are full of power and fexibility like the iron lines.
The Attendants
Amongal1 the attendants, the one taking the leading place might have a higher status, because his horse had a red tassel hung below its neck, as well as a big and luxurious saddle.
