Each edition reflects the customs of different times, and adds the value of Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival as a genre painting.
The following focuses on three versions:
The first edition is the third edition of Baodi.
Shiqu Baodi was compiled by Qianlong and Jiaqing emperors in Qing Dynasty, who organized scholars, painters and connoisseurs from all over the country to conduct a general survey of the calligraphy and painting cultural relics displayed and stored in the imperial palace, imperial garden and palace in Qing Dynasty, and then registered and catalogued them respectively. Baodi in Shiqu is a book about China's calligraphy and painting, which has three parts. It was first compiled in the 10th year of Qianlong (1745), with a total of 44 volumes. Second, fifty-eight years of Qianlong (1793) was compiled into a book with forty volumes; In the twenty-first year of Jiaqing (18 16), there were three books and 28 letters. All the paintings and calligraphy collected in the book are collected by the Qing court, which is the masterpiece of China's masters in the history of painting and calligraphy, and brings together all the works of the Qing royal family in its heyday. After the book was revised and finalized, a special person was appointed to write it in fine print, and two sets of Zhu Si column manuscripts were written and kept in letters respectively. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. From the Song Dynasty to the present, it has been circulated in an orderly way, and there are countless inscriptions and seals, which are recorded in the third edition of Shiqu Baodi. More people think that the third edition of Baodi is Zhang's original work. Now it's in the Palace Museum, so it's called Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival.
The second edition is one of the "Four Schools of Wumen". Chou Ying, a famous painter in Ming Dynasty, took The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival as the theme, referred to the composition structure of Song Ben, and took Suzhou City in Ming Dynasty as the background, and re-created a brand-new picture with a totally different style from Song Ben. "Qiu Ben" is also the originator of imitation in later generations. According to the records of the Ming dynasty, various imitations based on it emerged in an endless stream, becoming high-grade gifts for dignitaries. Known as a copy of Chou Ying or a copy of the enemy. Now it is collected in Liaoning Provincial Museum.
Chou Ying's Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival refers to the original composition form of Zhang Zeduan, and depicts the social life scene of Suzhou City in Ming Dynasty by changing the green color. There are more than 2000 figures in the painting, with different expressions and lifelike. This painting is 9.87 meters long, nearly twice as long as Song Ben, and 0.3 meters high. The style is different from that of Song Ben. It is the best and most valuable manuscript of all previous dynasties, representing Tomb-Sweeping Day of later generations.
Chou Ying, the real father, was one of the representative painters in Ming Dynasty, and he was also called "Ming Sijia" with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhiming and Tang Yin. His paintings have been handed down from generation to generation. Taicang (now Taicang, Jiangsu) Suzhou native was born in the 11th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (1498) and died in the 31st year of Jiajing (1552). He was a painter and later studied under Suzhou. He was inspired by Shen Zhou and Wen Zhiming, the predecessors of Suzhou painting circle, and valued by Wen Zhiming and Tang Yin. He once saw a large number of ancient masterpieces in the famous collector Xiang and Saturday, copied and created a large number of fine works, and gradually became one of the famous artists. His painting skills are comprehensive and exquisite, with diverse styles, including landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, etc., and he is especially good at copying ancient times.
Chou Ying's version of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival begins with rural scenery and ends with a piece of water in Sendai. Show readers the scenery and human feelings of Suzhou City and Jiangnan in Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago. There are mountains and rivers, battlements, streets and lanes, bridges, rivers, docks, storefronts, boats, theatres, repairs, weddings, banquets, elegant gatherings, performing arts, farming, fairs, trading, fishing and character testing, which are the true reappearance of Suzhou as the economic and cultural center of the south of the Yangtze River. In composition, it is not only faithful to the natural geographical environment of Suzhou's urban mountains and rivers, but also incorporates the author's creative ideas. The author is ingenious in scene design and detail handling. Among the more than 2,200 people depicted in the whole painting, men and women, old and young, scholars, peasants, workers and businessmen are varied. Each character can show his identity through actions, manners, costumes and props, and there is no similarity. The clothing lines of characters are strong and concise, highlighting the dynamics of characters with their gathering and dispersion, and using different colors according to their identity, age and gender. Using flat coating method, the color is thick.
To draw such a grand scene and combine many people and scenes into a vivid and harmonious picture requires not only the author to know the mountains and rivers in Suzhou like the back of his hand, but also the ability to control the overall situation and lift weights easily. The author makes full use of the characteristics of Chinese painting, organically combines key scenes, and deduces a vivid drama with silent light and shadow. The center of the picture scroll is the bustling market in Suzhou, but it starts from a quiet village in the suburbs, which is similar in composition to Zhang Zeduan's The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival.
The third edition was painted by five painters of Qing Palace Painting Academy, namely Chen Mei, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao, in the first year of Qing Qianlong (1736). It can be said that on the basis of imitating various dynasties, it combines works with various strengths, coupled with special customs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as outings, performances and other entertainment activities, thus adding many rich plots, such as plays and performances. At the same time, due to the influence of western painting style, the houses on the street are painted according to the perspective principle, and western-style buildings are also listed among them. This volume has bright colors, exquisite brushwork and delicate boundary paintings of bridges, houses and figures. It is a masterpiece in the courtyard. This edition is now in the Palace Museum in Taibei, Taiwan Province Province. During the Qianlong period, it was called imitation edition or Qing court edition.
There are many counterfeits, imitations, reproductions and temporary copies in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, but after all, there is only one original. After many scholars and experts have studied this topic, everyone's opinions are basically the same. They all think that this painting in the Palace Museum in Beijing is an original of Zhang Zeduan in the Northern Song Dynasty. Other paintings of the same name were later copied or imitated by Zhang Zeduan.