The product
is exactly as shown in the photo,(colour may differs depends
on your monitor settings)
Along the
River During the Qingming Festival (Riverside Scene at
Qingming Festival) (simplified Chinese: 清明上河图; traditional
Chinese: 清明上河圖; pinyin: Qīngmíng Shànghé Tú) is a panoramic
painting by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145). It
captures the daily life of people from the Song period at
the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng. The theme celebrates
the festive spirit and worldly commotion at the Qingming
Festival, rather than the holiday's ceremonial aspects, such
as tomb sweeping and prayers. The entire piece was painted
in hand scroll format and the content reveals the lifestyle
of all levels of the society from rich to poor as well as
different economic activities in rural areas and the city.
It offers glimpses of period clothing and architecture. As
an artistic creation, the piece has been revered and court
artists of subsequent dynasties have made several
re-interpretive replicas. The painting is also known for its
geometrically accurate images of variety natural elements
and architectures, boats and bridges, market place and
stores, people and scenery. It is often considered to be the
most renowned work among all Chinese paintings, and it has
been called "China's Mona Lisa."
Over the centuries, the Qingming scroll was collected and
kept among numerous private owners, before it eventually
returned to public ownership. The painting was a particular
favorite of emperor Puyi, who took the Song Dynasty original
(24.8 by 528.7 cm) (9¾ in by 17 ft 4 in) with him to
Manchukuo. It was later re-purchased in 1945 and kept at the
Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.
About 20 to 30 variations on this topic by artists of
subsequent dynasties were made. Several Ming and Qing
versions can be found in public and private collections
around the world. Each version follows the overall
composition of the original fairly faithfully, however, the
details often vary widely. The Song Dynasty original and the
Qing version, in the Beijing and Taipei Palace Museums
respectively, are regarded as national treasures and are
exhibited only for brief periods every few years. For
instance, the wait in Beijing to see the painting was three
and a half hours.
Features of the Song original
In the 5.28-meter long picture, there are 814 humans, 28
boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, nine sedan
chairs, and 170 trees drawn. The countryside and the densely
populated city are the two main sections in the picture,
with the river meandering through the entire length.
The right section is the rural area of the city. There are
crop fields and unhurried rural folk—predominately farmers,
goatherds, and pig herders—in bucolic scenery. A country
path broadens into a road and joins with the city road.
The left half is the urban area, which eventually leads into
the city proper with the gates. Many economic activities,
such as people loading cargoes onto the boat, shops, and
even a tax office, can be seen in this area. People from all
walks of life are depicted: peddlers, jugglers, actors,
paupers begging, monks asking for alms, fortune tellers and
seers, doctors, innkeepers, teachers, millers, metalworkers,
carpenters, masons, and official scholars from all ranks.
Outside the city proper (separated by the gate to the left),
there are businesses of all kinds, selling wine, grain,
secondhand goods, cookware, bows and arrows, lanterns,
musical instruments, gold and silver, ornaments, dyed
fabrics, paintings, medicine, needles, and artifacts, as
well as many restaurants. The vendors (and in the Qing
revision, the shops themselves) extend all along the great
bridge, called the Rainbow Bridge (虹橋 Hong Qiao) or, more
rarely, the Shangtu Bridge (上土橋).
Where the great bridge crosses the river is the center and
main focus of the scroll. A great commotion animates the
people on the bridge. A boat approaches at an awkward angle
with its mast not completely lowered, threatening to crash
into the bridge. The crowds on the bridge and along the
riverside are shouting and gesturing toward the boat.
Someone near the apex of the bridge lowers a rope to the
outstretched arms of the crew below.
In addition to the shops and diners, there are hotels,
temples, private residences, and official buildings varying
in grandeur and style, from huts to mansions with grand
front- and backyards.
People and commodities are transported by various modes:
wheeled wagons, beasts of labor (in particular, a large
number of donkeys and mules), sedan chairs, and chariots.
The river is packed with fishing boats and
passenger-carrying ferries, with men at the river bank,
pulling the larger ships. |