There are many reasons why the exhibition "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" can produce such a sensational effect among citizens. Among them, I pay special attention to the hidden identity correspondence between the works and the audience. As we all know from the general art popularization books, The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is the work of Zhang Zeduan, a painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, which vividly depicts the bustling urban scene of Bianliang City in Tokyo at that time. There are more than a thousand people from all walks of life in the picture, and there is no way to talk about streets, houses, wild interests and city appearance. /kloc-the life of urbanites 0/000 years ago came into view. A very interesting thing: On the morning of February 3rd, 65438, when Taiwan Province artist Jiang Xun visited The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival in Shanghai Museum, an old lady behind her pointed at the painting and said in surprise: There is an old lady cleaning the toilet here! Jiang Xun also said with emotion: The old lady in the Northern Song Dynasty who brushed the toilet in the capital of song dynasty (Beijing) met the old lady in Shanghai today, who seemed to see herself. Ancient and modern, art and life are inseparable at this moment. The key point is that this work intuitively shows the value judgment and spiritual ideal of a whole society, not a specific class, and this social group is mainly composed of citizens, so today's ordinary audience will form more understanding and comparison presuppositions than other works before visiting, and will also arouse greater interest when enjoying the work.
But it is undeniable that most of them can only watch the excitement at will, and it is hard to say more reasons for their fame. In the future, in the process of consulting materials, the author came across the ideal of an emperor Song Huizong in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival: A Society with Proper Gender Interaction written by Amica O. Yeung, which was very enlightening after reading, because it provided us with many new research results and observation angles for a deeper understanding of this masterpiece handed down from ancient times. Really, in front of this well-known long scroll, there are still many details worthy of our further observation, and there are also many problems that need our further investigation.
Zhang Zhu, a adherent of the Northern Song Dynasty, pointed out in the postscript that the possible author of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is Zhang Zeduan, a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is the earliest document record about the author of this volume. But today, collectors still hold different opinions on the identity of the author, the time and place of creation, and the intention of creation, including whether the handwritten scroll was created according to the author's ideas.
There is a starting point for the emergence of differences. Assuming that the author is indeed Zhang Zeduan, the key question is whether this long scroll was created by Zhang Zeduan himself or Song Huizong. According to records, Zhang Zeduan was a court painter of Hanlin Painting Academy in Northern Song Dynasty. These painters must undergo strict professional training and serve the court faithfully. During Hui Zong's time, painters were even asked to draw some entrusted tasks accurately according to Hui Zong's intention, otherwise they would be fired or never moved. Therefore, if the creation of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is really entrusted by the imperial court, the theme and style of the picture will undoubtedly be strongly influenced by the then ruler Song Huizong.
In the debate, some scholars (such as Valerie Hansen) think that The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is a relatively independent work, just a random expression of Zhang Zeduan's personal intention and an ideal description of the city. And more scholars (such as Cook Johnson and Julia Murray) think that this scroll truly depicts the scene of Tokyo before the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed by gold in 1 125 years ago. Johnson made a detailed comparison between Tokyo Dream Garden China, the ancient map of Northern Song Dynasty and Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, and pointed out that the map accurately drew all the important city signs of that era, such as city gates, bridges and canal systems. Murray's research further emphasizes that the theme choice of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival actually shows Song Huizong's great influence as an art patron.
In the history of China, Huizong was famous for being good at painting. From his numerous works handed down from generation to generation and the painting theory of Song Dynasty, we can see that he prefers fine realistic style and emphasizes in-depth observation of nature. But it is easy to be overlooked that there are such works in Hui Zong's paintings. Their descriptions of objects are often true and meticulous, but their intentions are poetic and fictional. A particularly obvious example is Ruihetu (collected by Liaoning Provincial Museum), which was also exhibited in this national treasure exhibition. This picture records the auspicious scenes of auspicious clouds floating over Kaifeng House on the 15th night of the first month of Zheng He's second year, as well as the auspicious scenes of Rui and Qi Fei. However, if it corresponds to historical records, it is impossible to find relevant records (for the analysis of this work, please refer to Stuman and Peter C's Crane over Kaifeng). Published in ARS Oriental IS 20 [1992]: 33-68). Works like this, which have obvious auspicious signs and praise peace and prosperity, are called Ruiyingtu in history and do not need to be based on objective facts.
So, what does Ruiyingtu mean to Hui Zong? Hui Zong was the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. After the death of Zhezong, there was no heir, so it was presumed that Zhezong's younger brother succeeded to the throne. However, the Empress Dowager insisted that Hui Zong be in power on the grounds that "Duanwang (the famous Duanwang before Hui Zong ascended the throne) lived a long life and was kind and filial, which was different from other kings". After taking power, Hui Zong, who is not particularly upright, will certainly show many auspicious signs to show that he is the only thrill destined by heaven. Moreover, during his reign, the dynasty suffered constant foreign invasion all the year round and was forced to make a series of humiliating political compromises. In order to maintain the dignity and majesty of imperial power, Hui Zong has promulgated many public festivals to create a happy and peaceful atmosphere of prosperity, and paid special attention to painting, entrusting thousands of Swiss films to create the visual illusion of auspiciousness and peace. From this, we can easily understand why most of these works are very realistic in image and ideal in inner intention.
Scholars like Julia Murray believe that The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival actually belongs to one of these films. On the surface, this is a true description of the capital Tokyo, but in fact it is an auspicious sign, loudly praising Huizong's wise rule. Moreover, the end of the scroll of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is very sudden, which makes many experts think that the original is missing. In addition, there are palaces in the Ming and Qing manuscripts, so the lost part is likely to include the fragments of the palace in the Song Dynasty. If so, The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival will reflect Song Huizong's influence more clearly. So, what can we see from the specific pictures?
I wonder if tourists have this experience. In the same exhibition hall, the inner activities when watching The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival and The Night Banquet Scene by Han Xizai are different. There is a less noticeable problem here, that is, space and perspective. Han Xizai's banquet shows the private space at home. The viewer is like an uninvited guest, hiding in a hidden place to peep. If everyone is watching, it will get worse and worse. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival shows the public space in a bustling city. All private spaces are cleverly concealed, and enough is enough, so that the viewer can have a panoramic view of all kinds of scenes, and it is inevitable that he has the power to control the overall situation. Song Huizong, who was deeply influenced by Confucianism, always thought it was not elegant to peep into other people's privacy. His attitude towards "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" is also "abandon it after reading it" (of course, it is not what he said), while Zhang Zeduan tries to avoid depicting private life in the picture scroll, focusing on street scenes, thus depicting an ideal commercial city scene.
There are more than 500 main characters in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, but only 20 of them are women, and most of them are excluded from public space, which undoubtedly implies the concepts of artists and patrons and the traditions of that era. The Song Dynasty practiced the policy of segregation between men and women, especially for the ideal upper-class women, if they want to stay at home, they should stay at home. They seldom come into contact with men other than family members, and this is when the custom of foot-binding became popular. On the other hand, most of the women in the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival are closely related to children or housework. In Confucianism, the relationship between mother and child is the basis of family harmony and tranquility, and respecting mother and teaching children is a etiquette worthy of respect. It is only because of the needs of children that it is considered reasonable for women to contact strangers.
In addition, although women are in a subordinate position in social relations, they are in turn symbols of male identity and status. In the paintings of emperors of past dynasties, they are often surrounded by a large number of followers (for example, the "Walking Map" also exhibited this time), but in the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", no one is accompanied by women alone. Besides saying that women should not be seen in public, we should also consider the potential readers of this work. Zhang Zeduan is a painter in Hanlin Painting Academy, and his contacts are mainly high-level officials. If Song Huizong spreads his paintings and scrolls, there is no reason why all Lebanese creatures should not show their humility to the Most High. If the court minister is lucky enough to watch, they will never have a chance to see his wife and daughter with this photo.
The streets on the riverside in Qingming Festival are crowded with people from all walks of life-dignitaries, craftsmen and traders, ordinary people-but they all live in harmony under the social etiquette of Confucianism. Confucius pointed out 1500 years ago that people with different status should be in their proper places, and they should not cross the line and confuse grades. Only in this way can they be regarded as peaceful, prosperous and peaceful. However, Zhang Zeduan carried out this idea well in his paintings, which made the characters in his works perform their duties and live in harmony and order, and also made the viewers at that time or later admire Song Huizong, the supreme ruler behind this prosperous time.
Through the above, we feel another way to appreciate works of art, which is not from the perspective of composition, pen and ink, charm and other forms, nor simply to praise how great and profound a work is, but to stimulate the comparison and association of modern readers through the comparison of details, so that we can get in touch with more historical things.