Introduction to Riverside Scene during Qingming Festival and author introduction

An introduction to the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and an introduction to the author

There are many versions of the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". The embroidered version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan is in the Hanbian embroidery collection. The "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is a genre painting of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is one of the top ten famous paintings. Below is an introduction to the Riverside Scene during Qingming Festival and an introduction to the author that I collected for you. I hope it can help you.

Introduction to "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is one of China's top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation. It is a genre painting of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is the only surviving masterpiece of the Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan. It is a national treasure and is now stored in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is 25.2 cm wide and 528.7 cm long, ink and color on silk. The work is in the form of a long scroll and uses scattered perspective composition to vividly record the urban appearance of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty in China in the 12th century and the living conditions of people from all walks of life at that time. It is a testimony to the prosperity of Bianjing in that year and a portrayal of the urban economic situation in the Northern Song Dynasty.

This is unique in the history of painting in China and the world. In the five-meter-long scroll, Mao Zedong painted 814 people of various colors, 73 cattle, mules, donkeys and other livestock, more than 20 carts and sedan chairs, and 29 large and small boats. Houses, bridges, towers, etc. each have their own characteristics, reflecting the characteristics of Song Dynasty architecture. It has high historical value and artistic value.

Several very distinctive artistic features can be seen from "Along the River During the Qingming Festival": This painting is written with both pen and brush, and the colors are light and elegant. It is different from ordinary boundary paintings, which is the so-called "number of married couples" ". The composition adopts a bird's-eye view panoramic method, which realistically and concisely depicts the typical area in the southeast corner of Bianjing at that time. The author uses the traditional hand scroll form and adopts "scattered perspective" to organize the picture. The picture is long but not redundant, complex but not chaotic, tight and compact, as if it were completed in one go. The scenery captured in the painting ranges from quiet fields, vast rivers, and towering city walls; to figures as small as people in boats and carriages, goods displayed on vendors, and text on market posters, all without missing a beat. There are more than 500 characters in the picture, interspersed with various plots, which are well organized and interesting at the same time.

Content

The content is rich and depicts many things. In terms of expression technique, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" uses the method of constantly moving the point of view, that is, the "scattered perspective method" to capture the desired scene. From the vast wilderness, the vast river, the towering city walls, to the minute rivets on the boats, the small commodities on the vendors, and the words on the market posters, they are harmoniously organized into a unified whole. In the painting, there are officials, farmers, merchants, Doctors, divination, monks, Taoists, minor officials, women, children, pole masters, cable pullers and other people, as well as livestock such as donkeys, cattle, camels and so on. There are scenes such as going to the market, buying and selling, hanging out, drinking, gathering, pushing boats, pulling carts, riding in sedan chairs, and riding horses. The streets and alleys in the painting are lined with shops, hotels, teahouses, snack shops, etc., as well as towers, river ports, bridges, cargo ships, government residences and thatched cottages. There are 1,695 people, more than 60 various livestock, more than 20 wooden boats, more than 30 houses and pavilions, and more than 20 carts and sedan chairs in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Such rich and colorful content is rarely seen in ancient paintings of all ages. Various characters are engaged in various activities, not only with different clothes, but also with different expressions and temperaments, and various activities are interspersed with them. They are full of dramatic plot conflicts, leaving viewers with endless aftertaste.

Structure

The structure is rigorous, complex but not chaotic, long but not redundant, and the paragraphs are clear. What is valuable is that such rich and colorful content has a prominent main body, echoes from beginning to end, and the whole volume is integrated. Every character, scene, and detail in the painting is arranged in a reasonable manner, and the relationship between density, complexity, movement, stillness, gathering and dispersion, etc., is handled just right, so that it is complex but not complicated, and numerous but not chaotic. It fully demonstrates the painter's profound insight into social life and his high ability to organize and control pictures. Judging from the content, this painting belongs to genre painting and also has the characteristics of genre painting.

Techniques

In terms of techniques, large-scale and meticulous techniques are combined. He is good at choosing things, scenes and plots that are both vivid, poetic and essential to express. Very meticulous observation of life, describing every character and prop. Everyone has their own identity, their own demeanor, and their own plot. The structures of houses, bridges and other buildings are rigorous and meticulously painted. The carriages, horses, and boats are all present, but they are kept small without losing their overall appearance and their power.

For example, the objects on the ship, the riveting methods, and even the knotting and fastening of ropes are all explained clearly, which is breathtaking.

Zhang Zeduan, the author of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), also known as Zhengdao. Han nationality, from Langye Dongwu (now Zhucheng, Shandong). A famous painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. His genre painting "Along the River During Qingming Festival" is one of the world's famous paintings and his representative work. He was eager to learn since he was a child. He traveled to Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan) to study in his early years, and later studied painting. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he worked at the Imperial Academy of Painting, specializing in painting palaces and palaces, and was especially good at painting boats, carriages, shops, bridges, streets, and city walls. Later, he "lived in a disgraced family and made a living selling paintings. He wrote "The West Lake Competition for Bid" and "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". He was an outstanding realist painter in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Most of his works have been lost. The surviving paintings "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and "Jinmingchi Zhengbao" are ancient Chinese art treasures. "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. In addition, the Tianjin Art Museum has a small "West Lake Competition" signed by "Zhang Zeduan". It was a commissioned work and has been transferred to the Tianjin Museum. "A Picture Along the River During the Qingming Festival" still exists and is the best illustration of works such as "Tokyo Menghua Lu", "Shengji Fu", "Biandu Fu" and other works. It has great historical value and not only continues and develops long-lost works. The ancient Chinese genre paintings, especially inherited the fine tradition of historical genre paintings in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhang Zeduan depicts the movements and expressions of each character very realistically and vividly. This fully shows that Zhang Zeduan has accumulated a lot of life and is very skilled in creation. ;