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Why were later collectors’ colophons added to Chinese paintings?

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ceremonial hu — Chinese painting Drawing of ancestral offering scenes (ritual archery, sericulture, hunting, and warfare) cast on a ceremonial bronze *hu,* 6th–5th century bc, Zhou dynasty. In the Palace Museum, Peking.

In the context of Chinese painting, later collectors’ colophons were added to works because they were believed to significantly increase the interest and value of the piece in the eyes of connoisseurs.1

These inscriptions, which could be placed directly on the painting or mounted alongside it in the case of a hand scroll, served as a record of the work's history and appreciation by subsequent owners. While the term "colophon" in Western book history typically refers to publication details like the printer's name or date, in the tradition of Chinese art, these additions functioned as a testament to the painting's provenance and the esteem in which it was held by those who curated it over the centuries.12