d2 N[vi] - the Night Banquet of Han Xizai

The record of an imperial painting catalogue of Xuanhe period (Xuanhe huapu, ca.1120) has included a description that tells us the inception of the painting: “Li Yu (the Southern Tang emperor) valued Han Xizai’s talent as a statesman and overlooked the matter (of Han Xizai’s banquets). Rumors circulated inside the court and out, and (Li Yu) regretted not being able to see Han’s famous parties with his own eyes. So he sent his court painter, Gu Hongzhong, to go in the evening to the place, to spy and remember, and to paint a picture (of it) to present to the throne. That is why we have The Night Banquet of Han Xizai.” Created during the particularly chaotic period of the five dynasties and ten kingdoms (907-960) when there was no longer a union of China after the fall of Tang, The Night Banquet of Han Xizai, was a painting carried out by court painter Gu Hongzhong and commissioned by Li Yu (937- 78), the emperor of the Southern Tang kingdom (937-75), for the purpose of imperial surveillance at Han Xizai (902-70), an important official, who indulged himself in hedonistic pleasures. Taking the form of a handscroll, The Night Banquet is composed not only of a series of colourful images but also colophons added by scholars, collectors, emperors as their interpretation of the painting.