This scroll depicts three groups of ladies working on newly woven silk, namely pounding, sewing and ironing silk. Two young maids assist the ladies by keeping the charcoal hot and the silk stretched; a little girl amuses herself by horsing around. Gongcan (palace sericulture) was a symbolic imperial duty performed every spring by the empress. In this ritual, she would lead palace ladies in all stages of silk production, from raising the silkworms to making dresses from the newly woven material.