The picture depicts all aspects of urban life in Bianliang during the Song Dynasty: the first paragraph describes the scenery of the countryside. Withered trees and grass bridges are an endless journey. The middle section describes the scene of Hongqiao. Two large ships passed through Hongqiao, and stalls and pedestrians gathered at the bridge. In the last section, the street scene in the city is painted. There are singing houses, wine shops, workshops and doctors, many people, and the streets are bustling. The whole scene is huge, the structure is neat, and the brushwork is meticulous. It is a famous painting that has been passed down through the ages. There are inscriptions and postscripts by 13 artists including Jin Zhang and others behind the painting.
The immortal masterpiece "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painted by the famous Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan is a priceless treasure in the history of Chinese painting. It is a long scroll of genre painting created with realism techniques. It vividly reproduces the prosperity of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty through its detailed depiction of city life.
Zhang Zeduan, courtesy name Zhengdao, was a painter at the turn of the Southern and Northern Song Dynasties and a native of Dongwu (now Zhucheng, Shandong). "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was painted by Zhang Zeduan when he was in the Hanlin Academy of Painting during the Huizong Dynasty of the Song Dynasty. This long scroll is made of silk, lightly colored, with a height of 24.8 cm and a length of 528.7 cm. It is a long scroll of genre painting created with a high degree of realism. It vividly reproduces the prosperity of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty through its detailed description of city life.
After Zhang Zeduan completed this long scroll praising the peaceful and prosperous times, he first presented it to Song Huizong. Song Huizong therefore became the first collector of this painting. Song Huizong, a master of calligraphy and painting in Chinese history, loved this painting so much that he wrote the words "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" on the picture with his famous "thin gold style" calligraphy, and stamped it with the double dragon seal ( Lost today).
This masterpiece, which has been handed down from generation to generation and is well-known at home and abroad, has been played and appreciated by countless collectors and connoisseurs for more than 800 years since its creation. It was the target of plunder by later emperors and dignitaries. It has been tossed around, gone through several wars, and experienced many disasters... It has entered the palace five times and been stolen out of the palace four times. It has gone through disasters and performed many legendary stories.
(1) The framer changed the fake into the real one
"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was first collected by Song Huizong in the Northern Song Dynasty court. In September 1126 AD, the Jin soldiers took it away The second emperor Huiqin looted the palace treasures. However, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was popular among the people. After the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Jin Dynasty, the painting entered the imperial palace for the second time. During the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a framer in the palace who replaced the original copy with a copy and sold it to a certain Zhen Dingshou, and then to Chen Yanlian of Wulin (Hangzhou). Chen was afraid of failure and was eager to use money, so he sold it to Chen Yanlian. Sold to Yang Zhun, a man from Boya who lives in Beijing.
(2) Soup framed to avenge kindness
According to "Xiaxia Wen Ji" written by Gu Sugong of the Qing Dynasty: Taicang King (yu) has a collection of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in his home, and Yan Shifan knew about it Later, he asked for it by force, but Wang (yu) refused, so he asked a master (namely Huang Biao) to make a copy and send it to him. Earlier when Wang (yu) was patrolling the two Zhejiang provinces, there was a framer named Tang who had a very difficult life. Wang (yu) Yu) took him home to work, and later recommended him to Yan Shifan. When Wang Yu's copy (Along the River During the Qingming Festival) was delivered to the Yan family, Tang's framed painting happened to be nearby and he said to Yan Shifan: "This painting is fake." After Yan Shishan heard this, he was very angry. It happened that my tower invaded Datong. Wang (yu) was the governor of Su Liao at that time and had no skills in guarding the bandits. Yan's party members took the opportunity to impeach Wang (yu) and was killed.
(3) Madam Lu’s Embroidered Pillow Collection
According to Li Rihua’s Diary of Weishui The power of the government and the public was overwhelming, and his son Yan Shifan was running rampant in the countryside. They learned that "A Picture of Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was a supreme masterpiece, so they sent people to search everywhere. At this time, the painting was stored in Lu Wan's home. After Lu Wan's death, his wife treasured the painting and hid it in an embroidered pillow, keeping it secret from others. My wife had a nephew named Wang who was good at painting and well-behaved. He asked to see the paintings when she was happy. She refused for a while, so she allowed him to sit in a small pavilion without pen and ink and watch for a limited time. Wang Sheng called Zhenzhai. He was extremely intelligent. After viewing it more than ten times, he memorized the composition and layout of the houses, streets, boats and cars in the painting. After returning home, he copied and copied the entire painting and spread it around the world, but the original was ultimately in the hands of Yan Song.
(4) Eunuch Feng's rumor to avoid suspicion
It is said that after "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" entered the palace, Emperor Longqing did not like calligraphy and painting, so Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo, took the opportunity to petition the emperor to give it to him. , but the emperor asked the painting to be appraised at a high price, which was equal to his salary. When the painting was about to be given to Zhu, a young eunuch learned that the painting was extremely valuable, so he stole the painting. Just as he was leaving the palace, the steward came, and the young eunuch hurriedly hid the painting. When we got to the gutter, it happened to be raining that day. It had been raining for three days in a row, and the painting had rotted away and was beyond repair.
This story, which was included in Ming Dynasty Zhan Jingfeng's "Dongshu Libian", was actually fabricated by Feng Bao, a painting thief. Feng Bao was the eunuch who held the pen during the Wanli period of Emperor Longqing. He was the leader of Dongchang. He was powerful and had access to the palace. After Feng Bao learned about "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", he wrote an inscription and postscript. If it was a reward from the emperor, he must have written it in a big way. Although Feng Bao didn't mention a word in the special book, it was obvious that he had stolen it. In order to cover his eyes, he made up the above bizarre story.
(5) Treasure stolen from the Xuantong Palace of the Qing Dynasty
After "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" entered the Qing Dynasty, it was collected by Lu Feiqi Bi Yuan. In the second year of Jiaqing, Bi Yuan died. In the fourth year (1799), the Bi family was raided, and "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" became an official for the fourth time. He was kept in the Yingchun Pavilion in the Forbidden City. Since then, "Along the River During Qingming Festival" has been collected in the Qing Palace.
After the Revolution of 1911, Puyi (Xuantong) abdicated and still lived in the palace. In 1925, before he left the palace, he stole the rare calligraphy and paintings in the palace to Tianjin. "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is among them. After the puppet Manchukuo was established, he brought this painting to the Changchun Palace. In 1945, on the eve of the liberation of Northeast China, Puyi fled in a hurry and took this painting to Tonghua. Unable to bear to throw it away, it was seized by our army and collected in the Northeast Museum. It was transferred to the Palace Museum in 1955. This is the fifth time that "Along the River During Qingming Festival" has entered the Forbidden City, but it is not the former imperial palace, but the people's museum.
During the Cultural Revolution, Li Zuopeng, one of Lin Biao's four top cadres, used his power to forcibly "borrow" "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" from the Palace Museum and make it his own. He also teamed up with Qiu Huizuo, Wu Faxian and others to occupy a large number of other precious cultural relics. After Lin Biao's fall, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" came to light again, and it is still treasured in the Palace Museum.
Discussion on the content of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll: Since the advent of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", there have been copies in various dynasties, with different sizes in traditional and simplified versions. According to statistics, there are currently 30 copies of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in public and private collections at home and abroad.
What exactly is depicted in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"? Why has its charm remained unchanged for thousands of years?
According to statistics from "Zhuotang Wenhua Volume 8" written by Ken Saito, there are 1,643 people of various colors and 208 animals in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", which is more than the number of animals in the classic novel "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (1,191 people), "A Dream of Red Mansions" (975 people), and "Water Margin" (787 people) all depict more characters.
The whole picture of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" can be divided into three paragraphs. When you expand the picture, the first thing you see is the scenery on the outskirts of Bianjing. The middle section mainly depicts the busy scenes of Shangtu Bridge and both sides of the Dabian River. The latter section depicts the street scene in Bianjing city. The figures are less than 3 centimeters in size and as small as beans. If you look closely, you will see that each figure is complete in form and spirit, showing every detail, and is full of interest.
"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" includes everything from fields, vast rivers, and shopping malls to as small as people on boats and carts, stalls, furnishings, and market signs. They are all grouped together. They are real and natural, making people feel like they are there. feel. The whole work is long but not redundant, complex but not chaotic, tight and compact, as if it were completed in one go. It fully demonstrates the extraordinary brushwork of the painter Zhang Zeduan, and is worthy of being a rare treasure in the treasure house of Chinese art.
According to the inscriptions and postscripts of Li Dongyang, a man from the Ming Dynasty who came after the picture, there should be a section in front of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" depicting suburban landscapes, with an inscription signed by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty in thin gold script and a small double-dragon seal for his collection. , these paintings are now gone. There are two reasons. One possibility is that this picture has been circulated for too long and has been played and appreciated by countless people. The beginning of the picture is broken, so later generations cut it off when framing it; the other possibility is that Huizong of the Song Dynasty The inscription and the double dragon seal were valuable, but later generations deliberately cut them off, made another painting and sold it.
Many experts also speculate that a large part of the second half of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" has been lost, because the painting should not have stopped abruptly as soon as it entered Kaifeng City, but should have ended at Jinming Pond.
Whether the second half of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" has been lost, and how many mysteries there are about it, all of these have attracted Chinese and foreign scholars and experts to explore.