Seated indoors on a couch and playing with a jade interlink, this lady is lost in thought while watching the pair of magpies that are calling outside. The artist means to show the woman's happiness at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, but he also, perhaps inadvertently, conveys a sense of stifling solitude and utter loneliness that was the lot of many women in the palace. The screen behind her is inscribed with hundreds of different forms of the character for longevity. Although the message is to extend life hundreds of years, one feels she would willing trade the life of an immortal for the devoted pairing of Mandarin ducks.

A Beauty at Leisure: Sitting Beside a Chrysanthemum

Sitting next to a table in a study, this woman holds a fine enamel watch. On the table stands a vase with chrysanthemums, which indicates that the time is the eighth lunar month (early autumn). Elegant and lofty, the chrysanthemum is much appreciated in the autumn for its ability to resist the cold. Endowed with a hearty nature, it was associated with firm resolution and longevity, and was also appreciated for its simple beauty and refinement. It became the favored ornament to adorn both hair and rooms in the house. Behind her is hanging a scroll with a poem by the great Ming dynasty calligrapher Dong Qichang (1555-1636). The European astrolabe on the small table in the next room and the enamel watch that the woman holds in her hand are indications that Western objects were already becoming fashionable in the palace.

A Beauty at Leisure: Watching Cats while Handling Beads