8.5' Long, "Along the River During the Qing Ming Festival", Epic Song Dynasty Scenic Chinese Study Piece, Silk Scroll Painting After Zhang Zeduan

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Description

Take a moment to look at the incredible detail in this epic Chinese Hand Scroll painting mounted on heavy beige, … Read more Take a moment to look at the incredible detail in this epic Chinese Hand Scroll painting mounted on heavy beige, brown & gold damask fabric in the traditional way. It is 8 feet 5" long.
The famous riverside scene depicts the monumental masterpiece "Qing Ming Shang He Tu" or "Along the River During the Qingming Festival, after Zhang Zeduan (1085 - 1145). Also known as Peace Reigns in the City.
It portrays from right to left Bianjing city's (todays Kaifeng in Henan) prosperous countryside, streets, and the river with its famous rainbow bridge; and illustrates the social & living conditions. Early morning on the right side leads one into the city as it wakes, and along the river and through the city gate on the left - a train of camels passing through.
The detail is worth noting as it provides us with a glimpse of what daily life was like in China - the hawkers, the godowns, busy restaurants and noodle vendors, dry fish sellers, tea & wine shops, the bridge packed with people and their wares, as are the boats/sampans. A busy river scene. The original artist is thought to be the man on horse back to the far left of the city gate with the wide brimmed hat and staff….
Right side a line of archaic calligraphic characters in black ink with two seal marks in red.
These scrolls could be framed, wall mounted or rolled out and looked at in sections - as was originally intended in times gone by. See photograph. Scroll weights would have then been used to weigh down the ends as one scrolls through the art work.
Condition is excellent.
Last half 20th Century.
Listed by East2West Furniture Florida.

Further reading: The original painting was a pride of the imperial collections for centuries.
It was frequently copied by later artists of successive periods and it became familiarized among the nobles, scholar officials, urban residents and merchants. Many scholars thought of the Song original as the "masterpiece", and gave little respect to later versions, which they called mere copies, forgeries, reproductions, reinterpretations or elaborations, more than a hundred of which are now in museums in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, North America, and France.

The header includes imperial poetry by the Qianlong Emperor transcribed by court official Liang Shizheng (梁詩正, 1697–1763). At the end of the painting at the far right is the signature inscription of the artist.

The left half is the urban area around the city gate. Many economic activities, such as people loading cargoes onto the boat, shops, and even a tax office, can be seen in this area. In addition, 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 camels, 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. One ship is adrift under the rainbow bridge - people throwing ropes down to it. See less