Gu Kaizhi, << goo ky jur >> (A.D. 345?-406?), also spelled Ku K’ai-chih, was the first Chinese painter recognized as a great master. He is the only painter of his time represented today by a possible original work as well as by copies. His specialty was figure painting. His skill in catching the spirit as well as the look of his subjects amazed his contemporaries. Gu Kaizhi’s works illustrate moral stories and Buddhist and Taoist tales. His most famous work is a scroll, Admonitions of the Instructress in the Palace.
