This is a stone relief sculpture created during the mid-to-late Eastern Han Dynasty. It is currently housed in the Nanjing Museum. This work combines a textile scene with the historical story of “Zengzi’s Mother Throwing the Shutter,” reflecting the textile production and social ethics of the Han Dynasty.
Stone Relief of the Textile Production Scene “纺织图”画像石
Stone relief | Eastern Han (25-220 AD) | H: 91 cm, W: 160 cm | Unearthed from Xiangyang Brigade, Caozhuang Commune, Sihong County (1970) | Nanjing Museum collection. 石雕｜东汉（公元25年-220年）｜高91厘米、宽160厘米｜1970年泗洪县曹庄公社向阳大队东汉画像石室墓出土｜南京博物院藏
The portrait stone is divided into four layers depicting four scenes. 1 The first, third, and fourth layers depict scenes of welcoming guests, cooking in the kitchen, and sacrificial rites respectively, while the second layer is the “Textile Production.” This picture has a prominent theme, exquisite craftsmanship, and clear images. The content reflects the textile production situation at that time and is of great value, making it a representative textile relief from the Han Dynasty.
There is no corresponding textual record of this painting. According to some scholars, the painting may depict the story of “Zengzi’s Mother Throwing the Shuttle”. The first layer depicts a host welcoming his guests.
The theme of the second layer is textile production, but this mural e textile picture in the Nanjing Museum is not an ordinary textile scene. It depicts the story of “Zengzi’s Mother Throwing the Shuttle” 《曾母投杼》.2 However, this picture does not depict Zengzi’s mother “leaving over the wall,” but rather Zengzi’s mother angrily scolding him and throwing her shuttle to the ground. The woman sitting on the loom on the left is Zengzi’s mother, the boy kneeling in the middle is Zengzi, and the man standing on the right is the “slanderer.” The figures are dressed differently and have different expressions due to their gender, age, and status, making them vivid and lifelike. The textile production apparatus, as large as a loom and as small as a shuttle, are also finely carved.
The third layer of the stone carvings depicts a kitchen scene. The scene of slaughtering dogs, in particular, was incredibly vivid. The Qin and Han dynasties were precisely the peak of the custom of eating dog meat in ancient China, even giving rise to specialised dog butchers. Dog meat was also favoured by the aristocracy; among the burial goods of Lady Xin Zhui in the Mawangdui Han Tomb were dog soup, roasted dog ribs, and roasted dog liver.
Inside the lower level, a man is presenting sacrificial offerings showing a table with cups and plates, with a handsome Ferghana horse is carved beside him. A pair of phoenixes (Feng 凤 and Huang 凰) are carved overhead, symbolising good fortune and happiness. The relief is framed on all sides with rhombus patterns.
Han Dynasty Stone Reliefs 汉画像石
Han Dynasty stone reliefs are a type of tomb stone carving art from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. They are decorative stone murals carved by Han Dynasty people on the walls of tombs and ancestral halls. Their content can be divided into two main categories: the world of immortals reflecting myths and legends, and realistic scenes depicting the enjoyment of the deceased during their lifetime. Specific themes include mythological figures such as the Red Bird, the Eastern King Duke, and the Western Queen Mother, as well as scenes of noble banquets and outings
Who is Zengzi?
Zeng Shen 曾参 (505–435 BC), better known as Zengzi 曾子, courtesy name Ziyu 子舆, was a Chinese philosopher and disciple of Confucius. He later taught Zisi, the grandson of Confucius, who was in turn the teacher of Mencius, thus beginning a line of transmitters of orthodox Confucian traditions.3
Zengzi’s work, The Great Learning《大学》, where the famous phrase “修身、齐家、治国、平天下” comes from, constitutes a complete political philosophy system of feudal ethics and morality.4
All photos taken at Nanjing Museum Nov 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 :
- Stone Mural of the Textile Production Scene “纺织图”画像石
Stone | Eastern Han (25-220 AD) | Unearthed from Sihong County | Nanjing Museum collection.
石雕｜东汉（公元25年-220年）｜高93厘米、宽61厘米｜泗洪县曹庄公社出土｜南京博物院藏
内容从上至下分4层来表现。第一、第三、第四层分别表现迎宾、烹饪、祭祀等内容，第二层即“纺织图”。此图主题突出，雕工精湛，图像清晰，内容所反映的当时纺织生产情况的价值很大，是汉代纺织图中具有代表性的一幅。此图把历史故事与纺织合二为一，构图别具一格。画面上共刻3人，刻的是“曾母投杼”的故事。左边坐在织机上的妇女是曾母，中间跪着的少年是曾参，右边站着的男子为“谗言者”。人物因性别、年龄和身份不同，其衣冠有别，表情各异，神态生动；而器具，大如织机，小如梭杼，也雕刻精细。整个画面主次分明、结构有序、细腻精美、生动谐和，是一幅具有较高历史、艺术价值的汉画像石精品。
“曾母投杼”故事始见于《战国策》，因有人误言曾参杀人了，曾母“投杼逾墙而走”。不过，此图刻画的不是曾母“逾墙而走”，而是改为曾母怒斥曾子，投杼于地。此图采用东汉中晚期盛行的平面浅浮雕技法雕刻而成，即先将石面磨平，在其上绘制墨线画稿，再经雕刻、修整，最后局部设色。此图主要是为了宣扬“孝”，故将母子二人刻于画面中心位置，而将“谗言者”安排在画面一侧；因画面左侧内容较多，为使画面左右平衡一些，故把右侧的“谗言者”刻得大一些。https://baike.baidu.com/item/汉纺织图画像石/5360045
↩︎ - 曾母投杼
《戰國策》卷四.秦二.〈秦武王謂甘茂〉：甘茂至，王問其故。對曰：「宜陽，大縣也，上黨、南陽積之久矣，名為縣，其實郡也。今王倍數險，行千里而攻之，難矣。
昔者曾子處費，費人有與曾子同名族者而殺人，人告曾子母曰：『曾參殺人。』曾子之母曰：『吾子不殺人。』織自若。有頃焉，人又曰：『曾參殺人。』其母尚織自若也。頃之，一人又告之曰：『曾參殺人。』其母懼，投杼逾牆而走。夫以曾參之賢，與母之信也，而三人疑之，則慈母不能信也。今臣之賢不及曾子，而王之信臣，又未若曾子之母也，疑臣者不適三人，臣恐王為臣之投杼也。」王曰：「寡人不聽也，請與子盟。」於是與之盟於息壤。
曾母，指曾參的母親。杼，織布用的梭。 曾母投杼 指因曾母再三聽說曾參殺人，終於心生恐懼，丟下手中梭具踰牆逃走。比喻流言可畏或誣枉的災禍。
https://rub.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~hanrelief/h/h08_0201_0302.htm
↩︎ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zengzi, accessed 29 Mar 2026
↩︎ - 曾子著作《大学》，开宗明义提出了三纲（明德、亲民、止于至善），八目（格物、致知、正心、诚意、修身、齐家、治国、平天下）。“古之欲明明德于天下者，先治其国；欲治其国者，先齐其家；欲齐其家者，先修其身；欲修其身者，先正其心；欲正其心者，先诚其意；欲诚其意者，先致其知。致知在格物。格物而后知至，知至而后意诚；意诚而后心正，心正而后身修，身修而后家齐，家齐而后国治，国治而后天下平。”构成了一套完整的封建伦理道德的政治哲学体系。https://baike.baidu.com/item/曾子/208375?fromtitle=曾参&fromid=209321
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