Description In the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. The painting Riverside Scene at Qing Ming is a very important Chinese art by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 A.D.). This print shows part of the famous painting, depicting life outside the city gates. The original painting is a silk scroll of 5.25 meters long and a quarter meter wide. Painted in ink and light color, the scroll is composed on 3 sections that vividly portray the feel and environment during the Qing Ming Festival in the city and suburbs of Bianlang (now Kaifeng). The painting consists of 1,643 people, 208 animals, 20 ships and more than 30 buildings in detail. There were some pubs by the river and boatsmen at work. The lives of ordinary people during ancient times and their daily activities were clearly shown. The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the festival, the temperature will rise up and rainfall increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, it is more a festival of commemoration. The Qingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness. This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both the Han and minority ethnic groups at this time offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served. The Hanshi (Cold Food) Festival was usually one day before the Qingming Festival. As our ancestors often extended the day to the Qingming, they were later combined. On each Qingming Festival, all cemeteries are crowded with people who came to sweep tombs and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to the cemeteries becomes extremely jammed. The customs have been greatly simplified today. After slightly sweeping the tombs, people offer food, flowers and favorites of the dead, then burn incense and paper money and bow before the memorial tablet. In contrast to the sadness of the tomb sweepers, people also enjoy hope of Spring on this day. The Qingming Festival is a time when the sun shines brightly, the trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people have followed the custom of Spring outings. At this time tourists are everywhere. People love to fly kites during the Qingming Festival. Kite flying is actually not limited to the Qingming Festival. Its uniqueness lies in that people fly kites not during the day, but also at night. A string of little lanterns tied onto the kite or the thread look like shining stars, and therefore, are called "god’s lanterns." The Qingming Festival is also a time to plant trees, for the survival rate of saplings is high and trees grow fast later. In the past, the Qingming Festival was called "Arbor Day". But since 1979, "Arbor Day" was settled as March 12 according to the Gregorian calendar.
Biographical Details The loyal painter, Zhang Zeduan, is a Hanlin scholar native of Dongwu (Shandong province). There is not a lot of information on Zhang as there were no written records about him, other than the first of the 14 colophons attached to the real painting. Zhang studied in the school of realism and his paintings clearly showed his eye for details.
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