Reading A Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival
We know very little about Zhang Zeduan, the author of Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, except the fact that he lived during the first half of the twelfth century. Possibly he was a member of the imperial academy of painting during the Northern Song Dynasty. He was reportedly specialized in the painting of buildings, vehicles, boats, human figures, and landscapes. Unfortunately, among all his works only this one, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, has survived. Held in the Palace Museum of Beijing, this painting speaks eloquently of the highest level of skill attained in popular art. It is a priceless treasure in the history of Chinese painting.
The hand scroll painting is 528.7 cm long and 24.8 cm wide. It provides a window to the period's economic activities in urban and rural areas, and captures the daily life of people of all ranks in Bianjing/Bianliang, the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty. Located in Henan Province, Bianjing/Bianliang is now known as Kaifeng. It was the political and economic heart of the country then. The painting is an important historical reference material for the study of the city then as well as the life of its residents, rich and poor.
The painting is composed of three parts: spring in the rural area, busy Bian River ports, and prosperous city streets. The painting is also known for its geometrically accurate images of various natural elements and architectures, boats and bridges, market places and stores, people, and scenery. Over 550 people in different clothes, expressions and postures are shown in the painting. It is often considered to be the most renowned work among all the Chinese paintings, and it has been called China's Mona Lisa. Different architectural styles are also depicted in great detail, making this social commentary the greatest of ancient Chinese artworks.
The painting begins with a quiet suburb, where many cargo ships are anchored, and slowly develops until the first plateau is reached—a Rainbow Bridge that is crowded with people. Meanwhile, under the bridge and on the water boatmen are working hard to keep boats moving. From the head of the bridge, one walks on a broad boulevard until he reaches an imposing city tower. Here appears the second plateau of the painting—a busy street scene. In addition to countless houses and people, there are more than twenty boats, more than twenty vehicles and sedan chairs, and more than fifty domestic animals. All these are different from one another in terms of categories, positions they occupy, and arrangements. Within the large painting, which is most complex, one sees sections that constitute separate, independent entities. It is full of variations, from simplicity to complexity and from passivism to activism—and vice versa. We cannot but admire the artist for his audacity for his power of memory and attention to details, and, most important of all, his unsurpassed skill as an artist.
In terms of characterization, this painting resembles neither an ordinary landscape nor a popular painting. In it people standing nearby are higher, but none higher than one inch. Yet, one will not mistake the identification of each human figure, as officials, members of gentry, and ordinary workers exhibit expressions and movements peculiar to their respective social status. One can also sense the relationships and the mutual responses among them. For instance, here is a merchant or a landlord who directs other people to move food and other provisions; a boatman standing on top of a boat awning giving instruction to a passing cargo ship; and servants who pave way for their masters' sedan chairs or horses at the top of the bridge. Besides, there are storytellers, the herb vendors, etc. who use all the means at their command to attract a crowd and to sell their wares. there are beggars, deformed or crippled, who plead for help, and rich gentlemen who ride high on horses and, hardly moved by the helpless, pay them absolutely no attention. there is a coolie who, together with a skinny and starved donkey, tries valiantly to pull a heavily loaded wagon.
The painting shows not only the customs and activities of the city's ordinary citizens during Qingming Festival, the fifth solar term which falls on April 5 or 6 each year when people visit the ancestral tombs, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, but also the busy transport on the Bian River, industrial and commercial prosperity, and the sharp contrast between the rich and the poor and between the leisurely and the hard-working. It is a condensation of true life toward the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
● Vocabulary Challenge
Prefixes “un-”，“dis-”，“im-”，“in-”，“il-”，“ir-”，“under-”，“non-”，“mis-”，“de-”，“anti-” and suffix “-less” can be used to make up words with negative meanings. Choose the right affix to change the following words into words with negative meanings.
● Comprehension Check
Read each statement below and decide whether it is true or false. If it is true, mark T in the blank; if it is false, mark F.
_____(1) the author of Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is a well-known painter in China.
_____(2) Most of Zhang Zeduan's paintings are highly acclaimed.
_____(3)Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is equivalent to Mona Lisa in terms of its aesthetic value.
_____(4)The painting depicts the life of people of lower ranks in Northern Song Dynasty.
_____(5)the author painted human figures in such great detail to show each individual's social status through their movements and expressions.
_____(6) the painting mainly portrays the beautiful landscape of Bianjing.