纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 039女史箴图(3)（在线收听）

"Keep an eager guard over your behaviour;

翼翼矜矜，

For thence happiness will come.

福所以兴。

Fulfil your duties calmly and respectfully;

靖恭自思，

Thus shall you win glory and honour."

荣显所期。

The painting that illustrates this poem also has a high moral purpose and interestingly, although the lessons are ostensibly for women, they can also speak to men. When the Emperor refuses to be seduced by his vain wife, he sets an example of male judgement and strength. Dr Shane McCausland, a leading expert on early Chinese painting, has studied the Admonitions Scroll in detail:

而表现诗歌的画作也有崇高的道德目标。劝诫的对象不只是女性，也包括男性。皇帝拒绝妃子的引诱，表现了男性的决断与力量。肖恩麦克索兰博士是中国古代绘画的知名专家，他曾仔细研究过《女史箴图》。

"I think it's about positive criticism, he's trying to not tell people what not to do, but to tell them how to do something better, and each of the scenes describes ways in which ladies of the court could improve their conduct, their behaviour, their character. Admonition is really about learning, improving yourself, but in order to do that, if your audience is very jaded, I think you need to inject quite a lot of wit and humour into it, and I think that's exactly what this artist has done."It bears very closely on kingship, on the tradition of statecraft, of principled government. It's a really incredibly insightful portrayal of the human interactions which go to governing."

这是一种正面的劝导。艺术家的目的并不是想告诉别人哪些事不能做，而是告诉他们如何能够做得更好。每一幅场景都描述了宫廷女性应如何改善自己的行为举止、个性品行。画的主题是关于学习与改进。为了避免欣赏者对说教感到厌烦，艺术家还加入了机智幽默的内容。而且我认为这正是艺术家们所致力于打造的。画作的内容与为君之道密切相联，是对治国者与他人互动模式富有洞见的描画。

Unfortunately Empress Jia was impervious to the poem's moral message, and she carried on with her scandalous sexual exploits and her murderous activities. Some of her ruthlessness may have been warranted, since there were rebels stirring up civil war, and ultimately in 300 AD there was a successful coup. She was captured and forced to commit suicide.

但遗憾的是，贾皇后并不为诗文所动，继续过着荒淫的生活。她的冷酷也许在某种程度上情有可原，因为当时有藩王叛乱引起内战。公元300年政变成功，贾皇后被俘获并赐死。