The panels were unearthed from the tomb of Sima Jinlong – three were kept in Datong Museum, and these two were kept in Shanxi Museum in Taiyuan.1
Painted Lacquer Screen Of Sima Jinlong 司马金龙2漆画屏风板
Lacquerware | Northern Wei Dynasty, eighth year of Taihe (484) | Height: 81.5 cm | Excavated from the tomb of Sima Jinlong at Shijiazhai village, Datong City, Shanxi Province (1965) | Shanxi Museum collection. 漆器｜北魏，太和八年（484年） ｜山西省大同市石家寨村司马金龙墓出土 ｜山西博物院藏
This red lacquered screen is one of four segments found inside the tomb of Sima Jinlong, a nobleman descended from an earlier imperial family. It is painted and captioned with stories of exemplary women and their deeds, based on Confucian ethics of humaneness and filial piety. The stories are taken from the “Biographies of Exemplary Women” 《列女传》, a Han dynasty text detailing the lives of 125 morally righteous women, both mythical and real.3
The picture is made of brightly coloured vermilion lacquer, and the drawings are outlined with black lacquer lines. In terms of artistic style, it is relatively close to the “Nymph of the Luo River“《洛神赋图》 and “Admonitions of the Court Instructress” 《女史箴图》by Gu Kaizhi 顾恺之 (345-406) from Jin dynasty. It shows distinct cultural characteristics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, and is of great value for exploring the integration of the cultures during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.4
There are five characters on the first layer, including Emperor Shun’s father 帝舜父“瞽叟” and Emperor Shun 帝舜 and his two consorts, E-huang 娥皇 and Nuying 女. Shun’s father wanted to kill Shun under the instigation of his brother. Shun, before he became emperor, avoided being killed several times by his consorts.5
The second layer features three virtuous women that gave birth to the founding kings of Zhou (from left) – Tai Jiang 太姜, the wife King Tai of Zhou; Tai Ren 太任, the mother of King Wen of Zhou, and Tai Shu 太姒, the mother of King Wu, founder of Zhou.6
Layer 3 are two characters, Chun Jiang 春姜 and Chun Jiang’s daughter 春姜及春姜女; Chun Jiang, a widow from State of Lu 鲁, is considered the model of female character, and given the honorary title of Mushi 母师 “Teacher of Mothers” but Lord Mu of Lu 鲁穆公. 7
Of note is the story on the bottom, depicting Lady Ban walking behind Emperor Cheng of Han, who is riding in the palanquin. She refused to ride with him because she thought the Emperor would be distracted by her beauty, when he should be thinking about serious stuff like governance and diplomacy. …This story would probably not be considered virtuous today.8
On the back side, there are similar paintings of exemplary sons and their stories, but the paint has been badly corroded because it was the side facing down against the ground.
The stories reminded me of my mother, who spent her life dedicated to raising us, saving every pennies so that we got everything we needed. Such were the virtue of women. Some of these Confucian “virtues” sound like mansplaining then actual virtues. But you have to remember the context of these paintings.
Chinese stone funerary beds9 of similar shape were a standard feature of the period in northern China since the 5th century CE, but were most probably an adaptation from the Western regions, as the earliest example of funerary stone beds can be found in 3rd and 4th century Kucha, and Chinese stone beds were often associated with foreign ethnicity (Xianbei, Tuyuhun…) and possibly Buddhism or Zoroastrianism.
The lacquerware panels surround the stone funerary bed. Sima Jinlong’s stone funerary bed is made up of six light grey fine sandstone flukes. Its front vertical surface plate was inverted “山”-shaped, featuring wave-like crossing honeysuckle patterns and water ripple patterns, interspersed with auspicious animals and Buddhist figures (warriors, dancers, musicians). These figures and patterns are found in Yungang Grottoes found nearby. 10
All photos taken at Shanxi Museum Oct 2025, unless otherwise noted.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- The remaining 3 pieces are on display at Datong Museum, and they are designated as List of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad 禁止出境展览文物; by inference, this restriction applies to these pieces in Shanxi Museum. ↩︎
- 据《魏书》记载，司马金龙是晋宣帝司马懿胞弟东武城侯司马馗的九世孙。其父司马楚之于泰常四年（419年）归附北魏，封琅琊王，司马金龙乃司马楚之尚诸王女河内公主所生，后袭父爵，为“使持节侍中镇西大将军吏部尚书羽真司空冀州刺史琅琊康王”。司马金龙墓为司马金龙与妻钦文姬辰的合葬墓，位于大同市城东十五里的石家寨村西南。1965－1966年，大同市博物馆对墓葬进行了发掘。根据出土墓志，司马金龙卒于太和八年（484年），钦文姬辰是太尉侍中陇西王直懃贺豆跋之女，贺豆跋即北魏大将源贺。钦文姬辰卒于延兴四年（474年）。https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-sg/彩绘人物故事漆屏, accessed 28 Nov 2025 ↩︎
- 司马金龙漆画屏风板，是与石床榻一起组合使用的围屏构件，为木胎漆绘，木胎外以麻布为底，再以漆填平。屏风板正、背面均绘漆画，画面自上而下分为四层，表现列女古贤人物故事，人物旁多有榜题和题记。故事和文字内容取材于《列女传》《孝子经》《汉书•外戚传》等史籍文献。Museum information card, Oct 2025 ↩︎
- 画面以朱漆为地，以黑漆勾线，采用渲染和铁线勾描的手法，色彩非常浓艳。在艺术风格上与传顾恺之所作的《洛神赋图》《女史箴图》较为接近，呈现出鲜明的东晋、南朝文化特征，反映出当时南方绘画对平城的影响，对于探讨南北朝时期南北文化交融具有重要价值。Museum information card, Oct 2025 ↩︎
- 第一层有五个人物，其中有帝舜父“瞽叟”、娥皇、女英和帝舜本人，表现帝舜恪守孝道的故事，见《史记·五帝本纪》和《列女传·母仪传·有虞二妃》；
（西汉）司马迁《史记·五帝本纪》：舜父瞽叟盲，而舜母死，瞽叟更娶妻而生象，象傲。瞽叟爱后妻子，常欲杀舜，舜避逃；及有小过，则受罪。顺事父及后母与弟，日以笃谨，匪有解。……舜父瞽叟顽，母嚚，弟象傲，皆欲杀舜。舜顺适不失子道，兄弟孝慈。欲杀，不可得；即求，尝在侧。……舜年二十以孝闻。
（西汉）刘向《列女传·母仪传》：有虞二妃者，帝尧之二女也。长娥皇，次女英。舜父顽母嚚。父号瞽叟，弟曰象，敖游于嫚，舜能谐柔之，承事瞽叟以孝。母憎舜而爱象，舜犹内治，靡有奸意。四岳荐之于尧，尧乃妻以二女以观厥内。二女承事舜于畎亩之中，不以天子之女故而骄盈怠嫚，犹谦谦恭俭，思尽妇道。瞽叟与象谋杀舜。使涂廪，舜归告二女曰：“父母使我涂廪，我其往。”二女曰：“往哉！”舜既治廪，乃捐阶，瞽叟焚廪，舜往飞出。象复与父母谋，使舜浚井。舜乃告二女，二女曰：“俞，往哉！”舜往浚井，格其出入，从掩，舜潜出。时既不能杀舜，瞽叟又速舜饮酒，醉将杀之，舜告二女，二女乃与舜药浴汪，遂往，舜终日饮酒不醉。舜之女弟系怜之，与二嫂谐。父母欲杀舜，舜犹不怨，怒之不已。舜往于田号泣，日呼旻天，呼父母。惟害若兹，思慕不已。不怨其弟，笃厚不怠。既纳于百揆，宾于四门，选于林木，入于大麓，尧试之百方，每事常谋于二女。 ↩︎ - 第二层有三个人物，为周太王古公亶父之妃太姜、周文王之母太任和周武王之母太姒的立像，其事见《列女传·母仪传·周室三母》。
《列女传·母仪传》：三母者，大姜、大任、大姒。……颂曰：周室三母，大姜任姒，文武之兴，盖由斯起。大姒最贤，号曰文母。三姑之德，亦甚大矣！ ↩︎ - 第三层有两个人物，为鲁师春姜及春姜女像，其事见《列女传·母仪传·鲁之母师》；母師是魯国九个儿子的寡母。臘日歲祀禮畢，召儿子们说自己要去娘家去帮助料理祭祀。她带着小儿子前去，作为夫死从子的表现，让儿媳妇在家守戶，自己傍晚回来。她办完事之后，回来的时候天色还早，她在闾巷口等到傍晚才回家。大夫问她原因，她说给儿媳说的是傍晚回来，如果早回去儿媳酒足醉飽，彼此尴尬。于是等到傍晚回家。大夫把她推荐给魯穆公，賜其尊號为母師。让她朝謁夫人，夫人諸姬都以她为師。
↩︎ - 第四层有六个人物，为班婕妤辞与汉成帝同乘御辇故事，画中的汉成帝坐在高篷大辇之上，回首注视，脚夫四名，抬辇行进，班婕妤随后步行，其事见《汉书·外戚传》和《续列女传》。
（东汉）班固《汉书·外戚传下》：成帝游于后庭，尝欲与婕妤同辇载，婕妤辞曰：“观古图画，贤圣之君皆有名臣在侧，三代末主乃有嬖女，今欲同辇，得无近似之乎？”
《续列女传》：成帝游于后庭﹐尝欲与婕妤同辇。辞曰：“观古图画﹐贤圣之君皆有名臣在侧﹐三代之末主乃有女嬖。今欲同辇﹐得无似之乎？”上善其言而止。太后闻而喜曰：“古有樊姬﹐今有班婕妤。” https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-sg/彩绘人物故事漆屏, accessed 28 Nov 2025 ↩︎ - Sometime referred to as catafalque. A catafalque is a raised bier, box, or similar platform, often movable, that is used to support the casket, coffin, or body of a dead person during a Christian funeral or memorial service. ↩︎
- 李梅田, 北朝石棺床的使用场景与画像配置 , “床榻式石棺床的装饰空间有限，只有床的正立面和左右侧面、床腿，因此主要是一些简单的装饰性图案，不见复杂的叙事性画像。装饰性图案以连续的忍冬纹、水波纹、铺首衔环等为主，也有传统的瑞兽图案（如龙虎、凤凰等）和带有佛教性质的图案（如持莲蕾人物、金刚力士、净瓶、伎乐等）。以司马金龙墓石棺床图案最为精致，床侧面雕刻有13个伎乐及舞者、龙虎、凤凰、金翅鸟、人头鸟等，足部浮雕兽面及金刚力士（图二）。这些装饰性图案也常见于云冈石窟中，表明平城时期的石作工艺在宗教空间和丧葬空间中存在粉本互通的现象，可能是由当时的匠作运行体制造成的。” http://www.silkroads.org.cn/portal.php?mod=view&aid=52518, accessed 28 Nov 2025 , 发布时间：2021-10-29 19:45 ↩︎
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