Along the River during the Qingming Festival
A long scroll showing life in Kaifeng: farmers, boats, a crowded bridge, shops and teahouses. It is unrolled section by section, from right to left.
The bridge in the middle: a boat is about to collide, and people are shouting advice from the bridge.
Zhang Zeduan was active in the early 12th century, under the Northern Song dynasty. All we know about him comes from a short text written on the scroll by a later owner in 1186. It states that he came from Shandong, studied in the capital and specialised in painting architecture, bridges and boats. Along the River during the Qingming Festival is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
The scroll is about 25 centimetres high and more than five metres long. It shows life along a river in a large city, probably the capital, Kaifeng. The scroll begins in the countryside with farmers and small houses and continues into the city. In the middle of the scroll is a large arched wooden bridge, where a boat is about to pass beneath it and people are shouting and gesturing. Further on are a city gate, shops, teahouses and streets full of people.
The scroll is meant to be read from right to left, section by section. The viewer unrolls one part at a time, as if walking along the river. The picture has no fixed viewpoint. The composition follows the river and the roads, and the viewer is constantly discovering new scenes. Scholars have counted more than 800 people, many animals and a large number of boats.
The scroll is painted in ink and light colour on silk. The buildings are drawn with a ruler in a technique called jiehua, which gives them great precision. The people are small but carefully drawn, and one can see what they are doing: carrying goods, selling, eating, talking or resting.
The title has been interpreted in different ways. Qingming is a spring festival when people visit their ancestors’ graves, but the word can also mean “clear and peaceful”. It is disputed whether the scroll shows an actual festival or an idealised image of a well-ordered society. Some scholars argue that it was meant to show good government under the emperor.
The scroll has a long and dramatic history. It passed between various collectors and emperors. In the early 20th century the last emperor, Puyi, took it with him out of the Forbidden City, and it was recovered only after the Second World War. Over the years many copies and new versions were made, including a famous version from the Ming period and one from the Qing court in the 18th century.
Along the River during the Qingming Festival is regarded as one of China’s most famous works of art. It is shown only rarely, and when it has been exhibited the queues have been very long. It has become an important source of knowledge about urban life, trade and technology under the Song dynasty, and has been copied and reinterpreted in art, film and digital animations.