Scenes from The Admonitions Scroll (5th or 6th century copy of Gu Kaizhi's work). Scene summaries from Shane McCausland's First Masterpiece of Chinese Painting: The Admonitions Scroll (New York: George Braziller, 2003), p. 37-38. Click on the thumbnail image to see a bigger version of each scene. To see the entire extant scroll, click here.

One.	[scene is lost]	Introduction: male and female, ruler and ruled. The role of women in Chinese civilization is to be 'submissive and meek' within the household.
Two.	[scene is lost]	Lady Fan: Lady Fan curbs her husband King Zhuang of Chu's excessive love of hunting by refusing to eat the flesh of the animals he killed for three years.
Three.	[scene is lost]	The Lady of Wei: the Lady of Wei ignores her own love of music to reform her husband Duke of Huan of Qi's taste for licentious melody.
Four.	[inscription is lost]	Lady Feng: Lady Feng selflessly steps into the path of an escaped black bear that has targeted her husband, Han emperor Yuandi, but is saved by armed guards.
Five.		Lady Ban: Lady Ban refuses to ride in the imperial palanquin for fear of making her husband, the Han emperor Chengdi, appear like a bad ruler.
Six.		The mountain and hunter: a mountain and a hunter with a crossbow about to shoot a tiger. An illustration of the couplet, 'To rise to glory is as hard as to build a mountain out of dust; To fall into calamity is as easy as the rebound of a tense spring.'
Seven.		The toilette scene: two women are tending to their make-up and hair in illustration of the couplet, 'Men and women know how to adorn their faces, But there is none who knows how to adorn his character.'
Eight.		The bedroom scene: seated on a canopied bed, an emperor and his concubine eye one another with suspicion to illustrate how false words will cause even your bedfellow to distrust you.
Nine.		The family scene: several generations of a family sit together to illustrate the couplet, 'Let your hearts be as locusts And your race shall multiple.'
Ten.		The rejection scene: an advancing beauty is rejected by the emperor: 'If by a mincing air you seek to please, Wise men will abhor you.'
Eleven.		A lady reflects upon her conduct: 'Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully; Thus shall you win glory and honour.'
Twelve.		Conclusion: the court instructress. The court instructress writes out her admonitions for presentation to her peers, as two palace ladies approach her.