China (960-1279)
Story illustrated by Allan Lee
Attributed to Zhang Zeduan(1085–1145), Along the River during Qingming Festival, handscroll. Literally, qingming (清明) means “clear-bright,” and shanghe tu (上河圖) means “going-along-the-river-picture.” The most common translation of the scroll’s name refers to the Qingming Festival when, in early spring, the living sweep the graves of their ancestors.
It captures the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today’s Kaifeng in Henan. The theme celebrates the festive spirit and prosperous street scene at the Qingming Festival, rather than the holiday’s ceremonial aspects, such as tomb sweeping and prayers.
As an artistic creation, the piece has been revered and court artists of subsequent dynasties have made many re-interpretive replicas. Copied as early as the 14th century, several versions of this handscroll exist today. Copies and reproductions function as studies for later artists and as a method for preserving significant works.
Zhang Zeduan 张择端
Zhang Zeduan (simplified Chinese: 张择端; traditional Chinese: 張擇端; pinyin: Zhāng Zéduān; Wade–Giles: Chang Tse-tuan; 1085–1145), courtesy name Zheng Dao (Chinese: 正道), was a Chinese painter of the Song dynasty.
He lived during the transitional period from the Northern Song to the Southern Song, and was instrumental in the early history of the Chinese landscape art style known as shan shui.
A selection of period art work
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