The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is unique in the history of painting in the world
1 min readRiverside Scene at Qingming Festival is a painting attributed to Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan(1085-1145). It captures the daily life of people and the landscape of the capital,Bianjing, today’s Kaifeng,from the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the scroll,there are businesses of all kinds,selling wine,grain, cookware,bows and arrows,lanterns,musical instruments,gold and silver,ornaments,as well as many restaurants.Vendors extend all along the great bridge,called the Rainbow Bridge.In addition to the shops and diners,there are inns,temples,private residences, and official buildings varying in grandeur and styles.
Over the centuries,the Qingming scroll was collected and kept among numerous private owners.It was re-purchased in 1945 and kept at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.It is regarded as national treasures and is exhibited only for brief periods every few years.
