Along the River During the Qingming Festival

Along the River During the Qingming Festival is a masterpiece of classical painting in China, renowned for its realistic style. Painted by Zhang Zeduan, a court painter of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), it vividly captures the bustle of daily life in the capital during the Xuanhe period (1119-1125) of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty (960-1279) represented a pinnacle of Chinese art and culture, producing numerous talented thinkers, poets, and painters. Its capital, Bianjing (now Kaifeng city in Henan Province), was the largest and wealthiest city in the world at that time, with a population of over one million. The 528-centimeter-long painting captures the urban landscape and ways of life during the heyday of the Northern Song Dynasty in the 12th century. It has been passed on from generation to generation.

Along the River During the Qingming Festival centers around the Bian River, and features the countryside, the surroundings of a water and land transportation hub, and the mar- ket in the city center. Presented as a long scroll, the painting employs parallel projection, allowing for the depiction of over 500 people from all walks of life, including nobles, officials, servants, vendors, sedan bearers, laborers, storytellers, barbers, doctors, women, monks, children, beggars, and more. The painting’s meticulous portrayal of daily life in the market, including animals, buildings, city walls, bridges, boats, vehicles, and sedan chairs, is unparalleled in its detail. The complexity is balanced with a concise and orderly composition, revealing a rich artistic charm that is unmatched in the history of Chinese and world painting.

Along the River During the Qingming Festival serves as a comprehensive encyclopedia of the social life of the Northern Song dynasty. It is of immense historical and artistic significance. Lewis Mumford, a renowned American historian who specialized in the study of cities, regarded the painting as an ideal model of the future city due to its vibrancy, variety, and focus on culture and people.

《清明上河圖》

《清明上河圖》是中國古典現實主義繪畫的杰作，由北宋宮廷畫家張擇端作畫，描繪了北宋宣和年間（1119—1125）都城的繁華景象。宋朝是中國藝術文化的高峰時期， 思想家、詩人、畫家人才輩出。北宋都城汴京（今河南省開封市）是當時世界上最大、最富裕的都城，人口100多萬。

《清明上河圖》就把12世紀北宋全盛時期的城市面貌和人民生活狀況濃縮在一幅528厘米長的畫作中，流傳至今。《清明上河圖》以汴河為構圖中心，分三個部分展示了市郊景色、水陸交通樞紐周邊和市區街市的景象。作者以長卷形式，采用“散點透視法”組織畫面，如實且精細地描繪了紳士、官吏、仆役、販夫、車轎夫、作坊工人、說書藝人、理發匠、醫生、婦女、僧人、兒童、乞丐等各類人物500余人，家畜、房屋、城樓、橋梁、船只、車輛、轎子等日常街市生活元素各有特色，畫卷中各類人物、景物、貨物細節井然有序，畫面長而不冗、繁而不亂，嚴密緊湊又富有情趣。這在中國乃至世界繪畫史上都是獨一無二的。

《清明上河圖》是一部北宋社會生活的百科全書，具有重要的歷史文獻價值和藝術價值。美國著名城市史學家劉易斯·芒福德因其景觀生動多樣化、人物屬性各異而充滿生機，將《清明上河圖》作為未來城市理想的說明圖。