Read the essay on the famous Chinese painting, the Qingming Scroll.
Zhang Zeduan's Qingming Scroll is a masterwork of Chinese art. Painted on a five-metre-long silk scroll, it offers an important insight into life in China in the 12th century. It is commonly believed that the city described in the painting is Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. The ancient scroll has survived the test of time remarkably well, and is currently housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
The scroll consists of three main sections. The first section presents a peaceful scene of rural life near Bianjing, featuring crop fields, a river winding through the landscape, and farmers hard at work. The second section shows the riverbanks and the central bridge alive with activity as boats sail in and out of Bianjing. Civilians can also be seen walking through the city gate in both directions. The third and final section pictures life inside the city itself. Here, hundreds of people from all walks of life, including butchers, hairdressers and government officials, can be seen going about their daily business. The combination of these three sections gives the viewer an idea of what life was like for the people of Bianjing.
Zhang's amazing artistic technique is apparent all across the scroll. Using ink on silk, he creates realistic images of scenery, buildings and people, and displays a remarkable mastery of perspective. The most impressive aspect of the painting, however, is probably Zhang's precise brushwork. This well-developed ability, as well as the scroll's ambitious size, allows Zhang to show an enormous amount of detail—you could study the painting for hours and still discover something new.
Thanks to all this fine detail, the Qingming Scroll provides a comprehensive look at life during the Northern Song Dynasty. It reveals a great deal about the 12th-century Chinese customs, clothing, transportation methods, business practices, and a wide range of buildings, such as temples, teahouses and government structures. At first sight, the overall scene of life in the capital city appears peaceful and cheerful. However, some critics suggest that on closer inspection, the painting actually exposes serious political and social problems. Some boats carrying food do not seem to belong to the government, which suggests that the government has lost control of food supplies and transportation. Also in the painting are soldiers who appear to ignore their duties. There are some less obvious indicators of trouble too. For example, in the centre of the scroll, a boat is in danger of crashing into the bridge. These sorts of details point to a crisis developing in the city. In fact, the Northern Song Dynasty was in decline by this stage. About twenty years after the painting was completed, it was overthrown.
Zhang's timeless scroll is an important example of realism in the history of Chinese paintings. Its value is down not only to its great scale, artistic quality and attention to detail, but also to its representation of daily life. Such is its worth that several later emperors even asked the most talented artists of their day to make copies of the scroll. Some of these copies are now regarded as precious works of art in their own right. With the Qingming Scroll, Zhang made an outstanding contribution to Chinese art and greatly influenced generations of future artists.
The original scroll is still in one piece despite its age, but it is extremely delicate. Because of this, it is not often displayed to the public. The last time it was on exhibition, crowds waited in line for hours for the rare chance to see the famous painting with their own eyes. The public's continued enthusiasm about the Qingming Scroll, even after all these centuries, speaks volumes about the power of this historic piece of art.