The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is dedicated to Song Huizong and has been circulated for more than 800 years. Its theme is mainly to describe the living conditions of citizens in Tokyo, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, the bustling scene of shops and citizens on the Bianhe River, and the busy scene of tankers carrying grain, rice and goods from the southeast passing through the bridges and culverts on the Bianhe River. The work is magnificent, with a length of 528.7 cm and a width of 24.8 cm. There are 587 people with different identities, all of whom have both form and spirit. There are 13 kinds of animals and 9 kinds of plants, all of which are lifelike. There are 56 livestock, more than 20 cars and more than 20 ships of different sizes. This masterpiece of realism is a precious historical material for studying the economic and social life of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty. "The Auction Map of Jinming Pool" depicts a lively scene in which the emperor led the near ministers to Jinming Pool to watch the water fight and dragon boat race. The picture is 28.6 cm long and 28.5 cm wide, slightly square. A small picture depicts all the scenery around the pool surface and edge for more than 9 miles. This paper focuses on the dragon boat in the pool and the ships around it, and outlines the whole picture of Jinming pool and the scene of the emperor watching the target. The picture is compact, the structure is rigorous and the theme is prominent.
The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is a typical representative of genre painting in the Northern Song Dynasty and the result of the long-term development of figure painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival takes Bianhe River as a typical environment, and depicts people's activities, buildings, tools and other secular human feelings at that time, which is of great historical value. On the basis of careful observation, the painter faithfully and meticulously described the bustling scene of the gates, streets and lanes of Bianliang City in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Bianhe River outside the gates. There are various commercial activities, handicraft activities, water transport activities on the river and various people's sightseeing activities on the screen. In addition to restaurants, pharmacies and other large shops, there are incense shops, bow shops, small tea shops or wine shops at the crossroads, as well as pawn shops with "Jie" signs hanging in front of them. Carpenters who make wheels, blacksmiths who sell knives and scissors, flower sellers, fortune tellers and various vendors can all be identified one by one. There are all kinds of people in the street, officials riding horses, surrounded by waiters passing through the crowd; Some women ride in small cars. In this noise, some people carry loads, some people drive cars, and the styles of cars are different. Some people are making boats on the river, some are wandering around, and some are leaning against the fence at the door. This lively scene, the painter arranged in an orderly way, mixed but not chaotic, fascinating, and the ancient capital reappeared in front of him. In terms of composition, there are always points, main points, fine points, thick points, tension and relaxation; Mainly in rural areas, rivers and cities, it is gradually spread out and has a lot of layers. The countryside is introductory and relatively simple. When I entered the river, I focused on describing the ship freight until the arch bridge, which formed the first climax. On the bridge, off the bridge, the boat came to the boat. People hurried, noisy and nervous, and then gradually turned away, ending the most important part of the center. From restaurants and bridges, streets lead directly to cities and various vehicles. Shops, all kinds of people, etc. Step by step, one place is tight, forming the second climax. From the city to the second street, the picture ends. There are many copies of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival in the Southern Song Dynasty, including one or two volumes of gold, which shows the significance of southerners' nostalgia for the bustling feelings of their old capital. The mystery of Zhang Zeduan's life experience
Zhang Zeduan's life is not recorded in the history books, and it has been a mystery for thousands of years. Some experts and scholars believe that Zhang Zeduan was born in the Northern Song Dynasty. Some experts and scholars believe that Zhang Zeduan was from the Southern Song Dynasty. Some experts and scholars believe that Zhang Zeduan was from the A Jin Dynasty.
Zhang Zeduan is regarded as an expert in the Southern Song Dynasty, mainly based on the speculation of Dong Qichang, a painter and painter in the late Ming Dynasty, about the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival in Rong Tai Collection: "In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was thought of western beauty to describe the scenery of Bianjing." Sun Chengze in Qing Dynasty recorded in "Summer of Gengzi": "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is a memory of the prosperity of the capital of Southern Song Dynasty."
It is believed that Zhang Zeduan was an expert in the Jin Dynasty. According to the earliest inscription "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", it was written by Jin Dynasty, but there was no record of Zhang Zeduan in Song Dynasty Painting Academy.
However, more experts and scholars believe that Zhang Zeduan is a native of the Northern Song Dynasty through the research and textual research on The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, now in the Palace Museum, is the Baodi trilogy of Shiqu. The earliest inscription by Zhang Zhu in Jin Dynasty indicated that Zhang Zeduan's identity was "Hanlin", and further pointed out that Zhang Zeduan, who was studying in the capital, was his "boundary painting" and especially loved Guo Jing, the bridge of Zhoucheng. Zhang Zhu's inscription is the earliest and only record about Zhang Zeduan's life experience. It is impossible to verify who Shi Xiang he mentioned, and Shi Xiang's Painting Theory has never been recorded, which has left a broad space for experts and scholars to study and verify. However, according to the earliest inscription of Zhang Zhu in Jin Dynasty, Zhang Zeduan was the most convincing person in Northern Song Dynasty.
Up to now, the story of Zhang Zeduan and the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is still circulating among Kaifeng people.
Suoguo Temple in Kaifeng was built in Tianbao for six years in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the time of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Suoguo Temple had reached its peak, covering an area of 540 mu, with 64 temples. The hall was magnificent and the flowers and trees were lush, so it was known as "resplendent, the clouds were light and the wind was light". The huge Suoguo Temple carved beams and painted buildings need a large number of painters to serve them.
Legend has it that in Suoguo Temple in Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty, there lived some folk painters who painted temples for a living. One of them was a young painter, who said that he could bring the bustling scenery of the capital Tokyo to painting. This young man is Zhang Zeduan from Zhucheng, Shandong Province. Zhang Zeduan lives in the Ji Xiang kitchen of Suoguo Temple and paints with great concentration. One day, under the escort of the Royal Guard, Song Huizong Evonne came to Suoguo Temple angrily. When Song Huizong Evonne heard that there lived a talented young painter in Suoguo Temple, he ordered Prime Minister Cai Jing to know the situation. Song Huizong Evonne and Prime Minister Cai Jing not only like painting, but also are masters of painting. Song Huizong Evonne ordered Prime Minister Cai Jing to call Zhang Zeduan into the Hanlin Painting Academy, and personally proposed that Zhang Zeduan paint the bustling scenery of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Zhang Zeduan was called to the Imperial Academy in the palace, but asked not to paint in the palace. He asked to paint in a quiet farmhouse. Song Huizong Evonne agreed to Zhang Zeduan's request and ordered Prime Minister Cai Jing to find a quiet farmhouse for Zhang Zeduan on the outskirts of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty. Since then, Zhang Zeduan has been painting with great concentration. Who would have thought that such a prosperous scene in Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty was actually created in a remote farmhouse on the outskirts of Tokyo's capital.
When Premier Cai Jing presented Zhang Zeduan's long scrolls to Evonne, Song Huizong and Zhao Ji, Song Huizong was overjoyed to see Zhang Zeduan's paintings. From then on, The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival was included in the Palace by Song Huizong Evonne.
After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong Evonne and his son Song Qinzong Zhao Huan were captured by the Jin people to the north, and the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival and 6,000 artworks hidden in the imperial palace of the Northern Song Dynasty were also captured by the Jin soldiers. Song Gaozong, Zhao Gou and Hangzhou, the 11th sons of Song Huizong and Evonne, proclaimed themselves emperor. In order to make Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou not forget their enmity and resolutely resist the gold, Zhang Zeduan worked hard behind closed doors to draw a long scroll of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, which was dedicated to Zhao Gou, Song Gaozong. Unlike his father Song Huizong Evonne, Song Gaozong Zhao Gou was not interested in painting at all and returned it. Zhang Zeduan unrolled a long scroll, feeling uneasy. In a rage, he burned the long scroll The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, which he had worked so hard to draw. Fortunately, his family snatched half of it in time. Under the heavy blow, Zhang Zeduan soon died of depression. Whether the story of Zhang Zeduan's two sacrifices to the riverside scene at Qingming Festival is true or not cannot be verified, but it is said that Zhang Zeduan is a painter who cares about the country and the people.