Keywords
Art History
Painting
Ch: Efang Gong. The Efang Palace. A residence for concubines built by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi (Jp: Shin Shikōtei 秦始皇帝, BC 259-210), at Shanglinyuan (Jp: Jōrin'en 上林苑) in Weinan (Jp: I'nan 渭南). Also, a subject of Chinese painting, typically included among the "Pictures of Pleasures at Court" *kyūraku-zu 宮楽図. Supposedly, the Efang Palace was inhabited by 3,000 beautiful women who increasingly became the focus of the emperor's attention. The poet Du Mu (Jp: To Boku 杜牧, 803-853) described the luxuries of the Efang Palace. Late 16th-century *Kano-ha 狩野派 artists painted the theme on fans, Nanzenji 南禅寺 in Kyoto, detailing the imagined splendors of Chinese court life.