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The Qingming shanghe Scroll
and Qingming shanghe Studies
Wang
Qi
Assistant Curator of Ancient Painting and Calligraphy
Palace Museum, Beijing
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Translator's note: Since it is still being debated whether "qingming"
refers to the Spring Festival, or a noun meaning peace and order, for
the sake of a less ambiguous translation, I shall keep the title in
pinyin, rather than using the better known English title, Spring
Festival by the River. Some recent scholarly inquiries on the Qingming
shanghe scroll, with overviews of Western, Chinese, and Japanese scholarship,
are published in the Journal
of Sung-Yuan Studies 26 (1996) and 27 (1997). IL
The Northern Song painter Zhang
Zeduan (active early 12th c.) portrays the capital Dongjing
(now modern-day Kaifeng in Henan province) in the Qingming
shanghe scroll. A masterpiece of Chinese painting, it shows
a bustling scene of the city during the Spring Festival and a society
in all of its facets. In addition, its historical documentary value
cannot be overlooked. Since its inception, the painting has influenced
many other copies and imitations, and even these are sought after by
collectors. To our knowledge, surviving versions of the Qingming
shanghe scroll in and out of China number in the dozens. Counting
only the versions shown at the special exhibition of the Qingming
shanghe scroll at the Palace Museum in Bejing in 1999, we already
have seven copies. In the history of Chinese painting, it is rare to
see a work which has spawned so many progeny, so to speak.
Studies of the Qingming shanghe scroll had already begun in the
first half of the 20th century, and there has been a lot of progress
to this day. A work of close to 200,000 Chinese characters, The
Qingming shanghe Scroll and Qingming shanghe Studies
(Henan University Press, June 1997) reflects the culmination of over
ten years of scholarship by its author Zhou
Baozhu. Embarking on this study, Zhou has the "homefield advantage"
--Zhou lived in the ancient capital of Kaifeng
for over forty years. In the preface, Zhou points out that in conducting
research, other than historical documents and the painting itself, she
often went to the outer perimeters of the city of Kaifeng to conduct
field research. As a result, Zhou was able to point out that the trees
before and after the Spring Festival season in the city's vicinity are
appropriately depicted in the Qingming shanghe scroll, contradicting
some scholars' view that the season depicted is autumn. Zhou also took
advantage of her knowledge of Song history to direct the reader's perspective
in every single vignette, a shift from many previous scholars' preference
to approach it through the perspective of art. In addition, Zhou deftly
narrates the painting through its representations of architecture, transportation,
and economic activity.
After reading Zhou's book, I find it has three distinctive characteristics:
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(1) Using topics as organizing principles
in the presentation and analysis of the painting. The first
three chapters � "The
Eastern capital Kaifeng, "Qingming
shanghe", "Zhang
Zeduan and the Eastern capital painting academy" � gives
the reader a comprehensive picture of Kaifeng in the Northern
Song dynasty. Later, the author separates objects in the painting
into twenty-one different categories, such as trees, vegetable
fields in the outskirts of the city, boats, vehicles, rainbow
bridge, buildings, city wall, herbal shops, watering holes, wine
shops, tax collection, and beggars, etc. These categories are
then further analyzed. For example, Zhou explains the reasons
why the willow trees planted on both sides of the Bian
River are short with thick trunks, but with fine and delicate
branch tips. Elsewhere, she uses "Liu
family's fine scented wood and incense shop" as a point
of departure to discuss the Song dynasty practice of using and
trading fragrances.
(2) The book concentrates on innovative
findings, rather than being restricted by established views.
In recent years, there have been many studies of the Qingming
shanghescroll. However, Zhou asserts her own opinions rather than
remaining hindered by previous scholarship. One of her refreshing
views contends that the reason why there is very little biographical
information on Zhang Zeduan is because Zhang's true-to-life depictions
of beggars and begging scenes went contrary to Emperor Huizong's
propaganda campaign for a peaceful and prosperous society.
(3) The book's findings are based on
solid evidence. The book's citations and annotations, bibliography,
reference works are abundant and organized clearly. Not only are
various primary texts and recent studies cited, but articles in
smaller publications are also included. This documentation bolsters
the persuasiveness of Zhou's arguments. For example, in the discussion
of the relationship between hand-held fans and the Spring Festival,
she cites a record showing how people often used fans during gambling
in the Cold
Food Festival (the third day of the Spring Festival) in
Song times. This piece of evidence refutes some scholars' theory
that the portrayal of fans indicates that the season depicted
is autumn.
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Admittedly, the book opens up some issues for debate. For example,
Zhou's acceptance of the existence of "Qingming shanghe Studies"
is still a little premature. Also, she groups categories such as Bian
regional embroidery, wood carving, and even reconstruction of ancient
streets modelled after the painting, under the umbrella of "Qingming
shanghe Studies." These issues need to be considered further.
See Nie
Chongzheng's comments on this book.
 Click
here to purchase
this book.
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Yin Jinan
China Central Institute of Fine Arts
Nixi Cura
On the State of the Field
Scholarship in the History of Ancient Painting in the 1990s
by Xue Yongnian
Puyi's Legacy
New Discoveries of Calligraphy
and Painting from the Palace Museum's "List of Lost Works"
by Liu Jianlong
A Record-Breaking Purchase by the Palace Museum
Zhang Xian's Ten Odes
by Yang Lili
Zhang Xian's Ten Odes: Counterpoint
On the Inauthenticity of Ten
Odes by Zhang Xian of the Northern Song Dynasty
by Wu Gan
Select Bibliography on Chinese Painting
Palace Museum Exhibition
"Treasures of Painting
and Calligraphy Acquired by the Palace Museum over the Last 50 Years"
by Fu Dongguang
Palace Museum Exhibition
"Grand Exhibition
of Cultural Relics Collected over the Last 50 Years"
Palace Museum Symposium
Academic Symposium Accompanying
the "Grand
Exhibition of Cultural Relics Collected over the Last 50 Years" at the Palace
Museum
by Wang Qi
Shanghai Museum
The Shanghai Museum
Holds A Symposium on Its Exhibition of Masterpieces
by Xue Yongnian
Liaoning Provincial Museum
An Assembly of Masterpieces,
Presented in Radiant Splendor: Record of the "Exhibition of Treasures from
the Ten Great Archaeological Discoveries in Liaoning"
by Ma Cheng
Important
Results from the Liao Tomb Excavation at Jarud Qi
by Tala, Yang Jie, and Dong Linxin
Three Eastern
Han Tombs with Wall Paintings at Otog
by Wang Dafang and Yang Zemeng
"Appreciation
and Analysis of the Murals Unearthed from a Song Tomb at Wang Shang Village
in Dengfeng, Henan Province
by Zhang Songlin and Zhang Deshui
"A
Breakthrough in the Interpretation of the 'Stone Carvings' at Junshan"
by Chen Xiangyuan
"Notes
on the Excavation of Han Tomb No. 1 at Huxi Mountain, Yuanling"
by Guo Weimin
"Animal
Designs and Chinese Script on the 'Five Stars of the East Favor the Central
Kingdom' Brocade"
by Li Ling
Extracts
from China Archaeology and Art Digest 3:2/3 (January 2000): Painting
and Pictorial Arts
Ding Xiyuan on Quehua
qiuse tu
Hao Junhong on Ma
Shouzhen
Shan Guoqiang on "Haipai"
Yu Hui on Yuan court artists
Macao Art Museum
"The Efflorescence of a Prosperous Age: Fine Works of Qing Dynasty Painting
and Objects of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Reigns in the Collection
of the Palace Museum"
National Gallery, Washington, DC
"The Golden
Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People's Republic
of China"
by Andrew K. Y. Leung
The
Qingming shanghe Scroll and Qingming shanghe Studies
by Wang Qi
On Qingming
shanghe Studies
by Nie Chongzheng
Chai Zejun: Collected
Works on Ancient Architecture
Fifty
Years of Archaeology in New China
Volume 1, Issue 1 (October 1999)
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