About half of the scroll is made up of painted scenes, each one divided from the next by lines from the poem. … One frame shows a disturbing episode. A beautiful and seductive woman of the court harem is approaching the emperor. The billowing robes and red ribbons that she’s wearing accentuate her movement as she flutters coquettishly towards him. But, as we look more closely, we can see that she’s actually faltering: she’s just been brought up short by the emperor’s outstretched arm and hand, raised in an uncompromising gesture of rejection. The emperor is above fleshly desire. Her body twists as she abruptly begins to turn away, and on her face is the expression of a shocked, thwarted vanity.

Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 1…, loc. 631