Huizong paints auspicious cranes

1110

The Song emperor recorded a flight of white cranes over his palace gate by painting them in exquisite detail on a silk scroll, inscribing the occasion in his own slender gold-wire calligraphy. The painting survives as one of the finest imperial artworks in Chinese history. The emperor saw the cranes as an omen of heavenly favor, though his reign would end in captivity and disgrace at the hands of the Jurchen.