Issued as part of China's late-1990s push into the collector coin market, this piece belongs to a series drawing on classical Chinese literary and artistic traditions. "The Nymph of the Luo River" derives from a rhapsody attributed to Cao Zhi (192–232 AD), written after the death of Lady Zhen — a figure of considerable political tragedy during the Three Kingdoms period. The poem's imagery spawned one of the most reproduced subjects in Chinese painting history, most famously a long handscroll attributed to Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
The oval flan — unusual for Chinese commemorative coinage of this period — was a deliberate design choice to accommodate the composition.
Issued as part of China's late-1990s push into the collector coin market, this piece belongs to a series drawing on classical Chinese literary and artistic traditions. "The Nymph of the Luo River" derives from a rhapsody attributed to Cao Zhi (192–232 AD), written after the death of Lady Zhen — a figure of considerable political tragedy during the Three Kingdoms period. The poem's imagery spawned one of the most reproduced subjects in Chinese painting history, most famously a long handscroll attributed to Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
The oval flan — unusual for Chinese commemorative coinage of this period — was a deliberate design choice to accommodate the composition.