Spring Morning in the Han Palace Ch'iu Ying (ca. 1494-1552), Ming Dynasty Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, 30.6 x 574.1 cm     This work represents various activities in a Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) palace on a spring morning. Among them is the famous story of Mao Yen-shou painting the portrait of Wang Chao-chun.     The intricate composition is rendered with crisp and strong brushwork and beautiful colors. Trees and decorative rocks punctuate the lavish palace scenes, creating marvelous scenery similar to that of the immortals. In addition to the groups of beauties, leisure activities of the literati, such as the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting as well as appreciating antiquities and planting flowers are shown. This masterpiece of historical narrative painting by Ch'iu Ying was done for Hsiang Yuan-pien and completed after 1542.