The silk painting which was unearthed in 1972 from the Western Han Dynasty (206-25BC) tomb of Lady Xinzhui, the wife of Marquis Li Cang, is perhaps not as famous as some other works of art from the Hunan Museum's collection, such as that of the plain gauze gown and the vermillion coated coffin.

Tang Hao, the show's executive director explained why he chose the beautiful silk painting instead of other more well-known artifacts. "Most museums taking part would like to select their best-known items, such as Hubei Museum did with the Sword of Goujian, and how the Shanghai museum showed us the Dake ding," said Tang Hao. "However, we want to give audience more than what they will expect."

With a length 205cm, a top width of 92cm and a bottom width of 47.7cm, the paintings on the T-shaped silk painting can be categorized into three parts: the heavenly world, the human world and the underworld from the top to bottom, a representation of the romantic real life view of the time.

The T-shaped painting on silk dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 25 AD) is housed in Hunan Museum, Changsha. [Photo/rednet.com]