In the Ming Dynasty, Chou Ying's "Spring Dawn in the Han Palace" describes the daily chores in the palace in the early spring in the form of a hand scroll: dressing, watering, folding branches, arranging flowers, raising, singing and dancing, playing around the kitchen, playing chess, reading, mowing grass, looking in the mirror, looking at pictures, teasing babies, delivering meals, waving fans, drawing queens and palace moths, and so on. The figures are all clothes since the Tang Dynasty, named Han Palace, which was a general term for palaces at that time.
This painting is based on the court of the Han Dynasty in the early morning of spring, and depicts the beautiful women in the harem. Among them, there is a famous story about the portrait of Wang Zhaojun painted by the painter Mao Yanshou. The landscape of the whole painting is complex, the brushwork is beautiful and elegant, and trees, strange stones and gorgeous palaces are interspersed and shaded, laying out a magnificent scene like a fairyland. In addition to the group portraits of beautiful women, it is a wonderful work in Chou Ying's historical story painting to incorporate the literati-style leisure activities such as piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, antique testing and flower arrangement. Palace pavilions, rocks, flowers and trees, officials who wait on Gong E, each holding his own things, describe the life of the palace concubines extremely vividly. This painting starts from the location of the palace. The willow tip is exposed to the morning smoke. There is "spring" in the flower willow and "dawn" in the morning smoke. There is a canal in the wall, and the mandarin duck and the pheasant fly. A maid-in-waiting led three children to lean against the railing and looked at the flying thrush on the water. In the palace, the women in the two palaces hold the palace mountain in their robes, as if to attend the ceremonial ceremony. A maid-in-waiting leaned against the fence and looked at the peacock outside. Two casual ladies-in-waiting, one for the peacock and one for the door. Outside, one person went downstairs with a pot, three people stood with brocade and miscellaneous utensils, and a concubine stood in danger with her hands folded, watching the maids irrigate the peony. On the left side of the peony, a woman is accompanied by two flowers, and the other one is holding a fan with a house step painted on it. There is a tree that looks like a pear with white flowers. Under it, some people pick flowers for golden pots, some people pick flowers for temples, and some people come with fans. Zuo Pingxuan stands out again. There are a group of women's music in the Xuan, including dancers, clapping their hands, playing musical instruments and holding sheng. Two people are preparing in the room behind the porch. Six people went to the stage to see a pool of flowers and plants underground and mowed the grass together. Two others are on their way. However, above the door, two people lay down and read the music. There is a large group of people in the main room, playing chess, ironing clothes, embroidering and playing, each doing his own thing. Six people under the order chatted with pots and pans. Two people in the left carriage have a good time. In Zuo Zheng's house, a person is like a concubine, painting a portrait. There are more than ten people guarding the attendants. Finally, the maid-in-waiting danced to the willow tip alone. There are four male guards outside the palace wall, guarding the inside and outside of the palace wall. The whole volume is divided into two parts in a group of women's music, which are combined into one volume, with fine paintings and elegant colors.