Custom Painting in the Five Dynasties
2 min readPaintings that depict folk customs and activities had come into being for a long time. In Northern Song dynasty, painters began to depict the development of urban and rural economy and the prosperity of commerce, handcraft industry and transportation industry. These paintings were known as custom painting and the representative work was The Festival of Pure Brightness on the River.
The painter of The Festival of Pure Brightness on the River Zhang Zeduan, with Zhengdao as his courtesy name, was a native of Dongwu (Zhucheng in Shandong today).
In his childhood, he devoted himself to reading and painting. Later he went to the capital city Bianliang(Kaifeng in Henan today) and became a court painter in Imperial Are Academy with his excellent painting skills. He was good at drawing pavilions and architecture, vessels and vehicles, bridges and civic custom. He had his personal features which were with high artistic value.
The painting The Festival of Pure Brightness on the River during QingMing Festival, about 24.8 cm wide and 528.7 cm long, depicts the beautiful scenery along the Bianhe River and the busy and prosperous Bianliang, capital city of Northern Song dynasty. Opening the painting from right to left, first one can see donkeys loaded with goods and business groups in the suburb in early spring. Then Bianhe River came into sight with ships come-and-go. One of the ships stopped when it was Bridge Hongqiao, and staff was folding their mast. On the bridge and bank there were many people shouting, talking in a bustling yet not disordered environment. In the city there were a mass of streets, houses and constructions. The streets were lined with tea houses, taverns, hotels, the butcher’s, temples and governmental buildings.
The stores sell all kinds of goods; People with various profession like pharmacist and physician in clinics, vehicle repairers, fortune tellers, shaving and face-lifting people could all find their images in the picture.
The bustling street was full of people, men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, workers and business men, all jostling each other in a crowd. The whole painting vividly reveals the social life in the capital city Bianliang then. It is important historical document in research of politics, economy, culture, architecture, transportation and custom of Northern Song dynasty. Perspective withdispersed focus was used in the painting. The arrangement was precise with proper density and diversification. Architecture, vessels and vehicles were all with accurate configuration. More than 500 people, with different identities, expressions and actions, are involved in various dramatic activities. In terms of painting ski1ls, the painting which was a combination of the meticulous style and freehand style, using heavy lines and light tincture, perfectly demonstrated the theme and atmosphere of the scene in depiction.
