Details from “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by Zhang Zeduan, now preserved in the Palace Museum in Beijing

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“Along the River During the Qingming Festival” was first painted by the artist Zhang Zeduan in the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), and its theme has inspired many artists and several hundred versions, particularly during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1912). Among the many versions of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” the original by Zhang Zeduan, known as the Song version, is undoubtedly considered the best. Zhang was an artist at the Hanlin Art Academy, an imperial art academy during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song (1082–1135). Under the orders of Emperor Huizong, Zhang crafted this painted scroll characterized by delicate brushwork and close attention to detail, vividly depicting Song society as glamorous and attractive.

The versions most popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties are called the Ming and Qing versions. The Ming version is also named the Qiu Ying version, because it was drawn by the well-known Ming artist Qiu Ying (c. 1498–1552). Based on the city of Suzhou (a city in today’s Jiangsu Province) during the Ming Dynasty, Qiu painted a new “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by adapting the composition of the Song version and decorating it with rich, distinct bluish-green colors.

The Qing version was completed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799) by five artists serving at the imperial court, including Chen Mei, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao. Since the five artists all came from Suzhou, the Qing version was based on the lives of the local people in Suzhou, blended with some elements of Beijing, such as the scene of training the imperial guards. Under the influence of Western art, buildings and streets are drawn in perspective, creating a stronger effect of depth and distance. Meanwhile, figures in the painting are better proportioned. These new techniques make the Qing version neater and finer than the others.

 

Different purposes
   Although the Ming and Qing versions were inspired by the city of Suzhou, all of the above three versions depict the daily lives of people in Kaifeng during the Qingming Festival. Each author’s social status, period and perspective on society contribute to the differences among the three paintings. For instance, the Song version has an edge of realism and confronts various social problems, while the Ming version reveals a tendency towards pleasure because there are many facilities for leisure and recreation in the painting. The Qing version whitewashes Qing society, hiding unpleasant facts and highlighting the advancement of the economy and military strength.
In the Song painting, there was a special object called a shan bu, which was used to cover goods on wheelbarrows. Some believed that the shan bu in the painting indicated the fierce political struggles of the Song Dynasty, because those shan bu seemed to come from silk calligraphy works, which may have come from the grand houses of government officials who had lost political battles.

The Ming version indicates a strong awareness of state defense because many objects appearing in the painting are related to defense, such as the crenels on the city wall for shooting and various weapons located near the entrance of the city. These elements reflected the tension over the Japanese invaders during the Ming Dynasty. Different from the Song and Ming versions, the Qing artists depicted a grounds for training imperial guards, parallel to the river. The scene of shooting and riding horses represents the strong military force of the Qing Dynasty at its apex.

 

The Song version theory
There is a theory about the Song version that it is not only a picture of people’s daily lives in the Song capital, but also a plea to the emperor. It is said that some details of the picture reveal the author’s concern about the social problems and potential crises at that time.

Bianjing was one of the biggest metropolises in the world in the early 12th century, with a population over 1.37 million. Most of the buildings in the city were made of timber, which could easily catch fire. There were over 40 large, serious fires during the Song Dynasty, making fire prevention an important issue in the Song court. Safety measures were adopted in Bianjing to protect the public from fire hazards, such as equipping every fang (city precinct) with a wanghuo building to watch out for potential fires and qianhuo bing (firefighters) garrisoned on its ground floor. Although the wanghuo buildings appear in the painting, there is no one keeping a lookout on these buildings, and the barracks on the ground floor have been turned into restaurants.

The painting also seems to accuse the government of slackness on guard because there are neither guards on the city wall nor any other defense works surrounding the city. The place where the heavily guarded institution for city defense should be located is occupied by a store, in which the owner is examining goods and the accountant is keeping financial accounts. The painting depicts a capital with highly developed commerce, but it is poorly guarded. It reveals the horrible truth about the early reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, who lived in luxury and neglected military and defense work, allowing the Song Dynasty to become increasingly weak.

In the painting, a lot of private boats transport grain along the primary waterway. It seems to mirror the flourishing economy at that time, while in fact displaying a serious mistake made by the Song government. Usually, the grain supply would be organized by the government and grain was meant to be transported by official ships. However, instead of shipping grain, most of the official ships were ordered to transport granite to please Emperor Huizong, whose hobby was to collect colorful rocks and stones. It left the granary short on transportation, which played right into the hands of private ships, giving them opportunities to take control of the market and manipulate food prices.

Details in the painting also imply some other social problems and chaos, such as the carriages and horses of government officials jostling to pass each other in the street and a rich family blocking a road for a ritual animal sacrifice. Based on these details, there is a theory that Zhang Zeduan intended to display some serious social problems and potential dangers to Emperor Huizong through the painting. Evidence can be found from historic precedents, because Emperor Taizong of Song (939–997) adopted policies to encourage scholars and artists to advise and admonish the emperor. Concerns over state affairs became an important driving force for Song artists. For example, the Northern Song suffered severe natural disasters in 1074. A government official named Zheng Xia submitted a painting to Emperor Shenzong of Song (1048–1085) that depicted the miserable life of refugees as a plea to stop the socioeconomic reforms led by the Chancellor, Wang Anshi (1021–1086). Unfortunately, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” only impressed Emperor Huizong with its drawing techniques. Its deeper implications failed to move him.

 

The article was edited and translated from Guangming Daily. Yu Hui is a member of the National Committee of Cultural Relics and a research fellow at the Palace Museum Research Institute.

(edited by REN GUANHONG)