The ancient paintings and calligraphy in the Palace Museum are very rich, including rare books and rare books in the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, as well as representative works of famous painters in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which shows the development of ancient painting and calligraphy in China.
Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties played a very important role in the history of calligraphy and painting in China, and it was an important period for the construction of the art system of calligraphy and painting. Wang Xizhi, a representative of the Jin Dynasty, not only improved the artistic taste of the new style of Chinese characters, but also played a very important role in the aesthetic rebellion of calligraphy in later generations. Painting is represented by Gu Kaizhi, and the works of famous artists such as Zhan Ziqian, Yan, etc. should not be missed.
Calligraphy and painting in Ming Dynasty played a connecting role in the history of calligraphy and painting in China. Calligraphy and painting in Ming Dynasty inherited the tradition of Song and Yuan Dynasties, and made innovations in creative techniques and expression techniques, showing a very rich artistic outlook.
In the Qing Dynasty, calligraphy and painting flourished in inheritance and innovation, and famous artists such as "Four Kings and Wu Yun", Liu Yong, Weng Fanggang, Deng and Yi Bingshou emerged.
The collection of calligraphy and painting is the most important part of the collection of the Forbidden City, mainly the old collections of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Due to the war and many other reasons, the number of paintings and calligraphy in the Palace Museum was less than 7,000 when it was first established. Among them, Yan's Walking Map, Zhang Zeduan's Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, Lu Ji, Wang Xizhi and other famous calligraphies have become treasures of the Forbidden City.
The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is one of the top ten famous paintings handed down by China. The genre painting of the Northern Song Dynasty, with a width of 24.8 cm and a length of 528.7 cm, is a first-class national treasure in China. It depicts the prosperity of Bianjing in the Qingming period, witnessed the prosperity of Bianjing in that year, and depicts the economic situation of the Northern Song Dynasty, which has very important historical reference value.