History Behind Along the River During Qingming Festival

## Content

Along the River During Qingming
Festival (Qing Ming Shang He Tu 清明上河图) is a famous painting that made in near
11 centuries, in Zhang Zeduan’s life time, North Song dynasty, china. This
painting shows the rural area in North Song dynasty’s capital, Kaifeng, and
that painting clearly shows the city construction, economic development, and
culture in Qingming Festival. Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese festival,
Chinese people usually sacrifice their ancestor in this day. Along the River
During the Qingming Festival is been known as one of the ten famous Chinese
painting in history, this painting shows city construction, building styles,
and economics in north song dynasty clearly and accurately. Also, every person
in this painting wears different clothes and with different faces, that makes
everything looks so true to the real world. Chinese people called this painting
the number one masterpiece in Chinese painting history.
[1]

## Economy in North Song Dynasty

Along the River During Qingming
Festival shows the economy in North Song dynasty. In the beginning of the
painting, there was a market and a city gate. This is the inner city of
Kaifeng, the third store from the gate have no sign and a professor in Peking University
called Hang Kan thinks it is a tax office, and the goods in front it is waiting
for checking and pay for tax. Then, on the left of the tax office, there’s a tall
building, and it is the hotel in Kaifeng, all the hotel in the capital were
fitment like that, and there’s 72 hotels were five stars, this is one of them,
so this hotel can have character Zhengdian in its sign. [2]And
also, this hotel has license of brew and sell alcohol, because the flag in
front the door. In the North Song dynasty, all the brewers and shops that selling
alcohol need have permit of the government, government set very high tax on
alcohol, and every year, the alcohol tax will give government 400000 Guans
(North Song dynasty’s currency, means thousand) income. So, Government have
very strict control of the brew industry. There also has spice shop in the
inner city, in Song dynasty, spice was used for fete the god and the ancestors,
every year, the income of spice were even more than 500000 Guans, bigger than
alcohol tax, so, only government can sell spice, and Song government also sell
spice to Arabian and European countries, they use ship and Chinese called it
spice trade. Also, in the painting, we can find some camels there, they are
from middle Asia and west Asia, from Tang dynasty to Ming dynasty, China is
always the trading center of the world, Arabian merchant will come to china,
and take back silk, spice and ceramics back to West Asia, and sell to local
people and European. In North Song dynasty, the population of Kaifeng is 1.3
million, and there has 400 thousand solider protect the capital, so the whole
population is 1.7 million, much more than Constantinople and Baghdad.

## City Contruction in North Song Dynasty

In this painting, the city
construction was obviously different between North Song dynasty and former
dynasties. From the West Zhou dynasty, near 11 centuries BC, Chinese government
started to use Square city system to control the city, that means divided city
into some small squares, each square has the wall and the gate, just like a
small city, and between 9pm to 6am, all the residents should go back to their
own square. Also, the business district was divided with the living district,
and the business district only open at daytime, in the time, there will be no
more business activity. In the painting, it shows the architecture style in
North Song dynasty. All the building has crooked roof, for better lighting and
beauty, architect started to use less pillars and sometimes they will change
the position of pillars to make building bigger and good looking. There also
have a bridge in the painting, this bridge is called Hong Qiao, that bridge
shows the architecture technology in ancient china. The architect did not use
tenon and nail to build this bridge, all the materials were binding and use no
holder to support it. In two side of the bridge, it has sculpture the tiger’s
head and lion’s head. This bridge was named as Four greatest old bridges in
china, and other three is Zhao Zhou bridge, Guang Ji bridge and Wan An bridge.
But unfortunately, because of fall of North Song dynasty and dry up of Bian
river, this bridge has disappeared in the history. Also in the painting, there
have some entertainment places, called Washe, Washe was first appeared in North
Song dynasty and it is just like nowadays’ theater, in North Song dynasty,
opera has developed very quickly so there started have theater for citizen to
watch the opera.

## Politics and Emperor in North Song Dynasty

This painting also shows the
politics and official mission of North Song dynasty. Zhang Zeduan has served in
Xuan He Hua Shi, means official painting agency for the emperor, because of the
painting habit of Emperor Hui (reign time from 1100 AD to 1126 AD), he has set
the Xuan He Hua Shi as his imperial painting agency, and all the painter there
were same as the normal civil official, they have right to wear robe and have
high salary. The biggest task for painters who served in Xuan He Hua Yuan is to
paint portraiture for noble people and emperor, and they also need to paint
some important event or festival, Qing Ming Shang He Tu (清明上河图) is the painting
that record the Kaifeng in Qing Ming festival, and Zhang Zeduan sent it to the
emperor. Emperor Hui have great talent in art, especially painting and
calligraphy, historians of late ages called him the man good at everything, but
expect been emperor. If he’s not an emperor, he may be a great artist, and
North Song dynasty will last for a long time, but unfortunately, he’s still
emperor. He only care about art, and lost his own work of control this country,
and he is very crave for greatness and success, North Song dynasty has hundred
years peace with its north neighbor, but Emperor Hui asked another country to
attack its neighbor, and they wins it, but alliance has become enemy, and they
started to attack north song dynasty. Then, Emperor Hui declare abdicate and
let his son became emperor, then invader has surround Kaifeng, and his son even
didn’t fight, just surrender to them, and invader caught both Emperor Hui and
his son, and that’s the fall of North Song dynasty, and Chinese people call it
Shame of Jingkang era. But emperor Hui was very good at calligraphy, he invents
a typeface called Shou Jin Ti (thin gold), and he use this typeface write on
this painting, he write down Qing Ming Shang He Tu (清明上河图), that is why
this painting is called this name. [3]

Along the River During Qingming
festival shows the best painting technologies and also shows the economy and
city construction development in North Song dynasty, just like a live North
Song dynasty’s encyclopedia, and it also shows the high tax and weak military
In North Song dynasty, indicate the fall of North Song dynasty, it is be worthy
of the number one masterpiece in Chinese painting history.

[1] Palace Museum, http://www.dpm.org.cn/www\_oldweb/Big5/phoweb/Relicpage/2/R945.htm

[2] *The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor (Dong*
Jing Meng Hua Lu 东京梦华录)

[3]
People’s net, http://book.people.com.cn/n/2013/0329/c68880-20968117.html