The Northern Song Dynasty genre painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. Author Zhang Zeduan, whose name is Zhengdao, was born in Wu Dong (now Zhucheng, Shandong Province). Song Huizong is a court painter. When I was a teenager, I went to study in the capital city of Bianliang (now Kaifeng, Henan). After that, I learned painting, especially painting boats and cars, painting urban bridges, painting Guo Jing, and getting married. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is his masterpiece, which was once collected by Xuanhe Neifu. Silk book, light color, 24.8 cm long and 528.7 cm wide, is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. This painting depicts the bustling scene and natural scenery on both sides of Bianliang and Bianhe, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, during the Qingming period. In the form of a long scroll, the work uses the composition method of scattered perspective to bring complicated scenery into a unified and changeable picture. There are more than 500 people in the painting, with different clothes and expressions, interspersed with various activities, paying attention to drama, dense composition, changing rhythm and rhythm, and ingenious brushwork. The whole picture is divided into three sections.

The first paragraph, Bianjing rural spring:

In the sparse forest mist, there are several huts, grass bridges, running water, old trees and boats. Two porters are driving five donkeys loaded with charcoal. They are going to town. A willow forest, with faint green branches, makes people feel that although it is chilly in spring, it is already spring back to the earth. In the sedan chair on the road, a woman sat in it. The top of the sedan chair is decorated with willows and flowers, followed by riders and bearers, returning from a walk in the suburbs of Beijing to sweep the grave. The description of the environment and characters points out the specific time and customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day, which opens the curtain for the whole painting.

In the middle section, the busy Bianhe Wharf:

Bianhe River is the hub of national grain transportation in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is also the main road of commercial traffic. As can be seen from the picture, the population is dense and there are many grain ships. Some people are resting in the teahouse, some are telling fortune, and some are eating in the restaurant. There is also the "Wang's Paper Horse Shop", which is a grave sweeper selling sacrifices. Ships in the river come and go, end to end, either pulled by trackers or paddled by boatmen. Some are full of goods, going upstream, and some are nervously berthing to unload. Across the Bianhe River is a large wooden arch bridge with exquisite structure and beautiful shape. Such as flying rainbow, hence the name Hongqiao. There is a big ship waiting to cross the bridge. The boatman is supported by bamboo poles; Hook the bridge with a long pole; Lead the boat with hemp rope; Several people are busy lowering the mast so that the ship can pass. People in the neighboring ship are also pointing, as if shouting something. Both inside and outside the ship are busy crossing the bridge for this ship. People on the bridge are also sweating over the tense ferry scene. This is the well-known Hongqiao pier, which is full of traffic and bustling, and is really the intersection of land and water transportation.

In the second half, busy city streets:

Centered on the tall towers, there are rows of houses on both sides, including teahouses, restaurants, foot shops, meat shops, temples, public halls and so on. There are special commodities in the shop, such as silks and satins, jewels and spices, incense and paper horses. In addition, there are medical clinics, cart repair, fortune-telling visits, shaving and plastic surgery, and all walks of life have everything. Large-scale shops are also tied with "colorful buildings and happy doors" at the door, and banners are hung to attract business. Pedestrians in the market are jostling with each other, including businessmen doing business and people watching street scenes. There are monks walking around with baskets on their backs, tourists asking for directions from other places, street children who have heard of books, children of rich people who drink heavily in restaurants, disabled elderly people begging on the edge of cities, men, women and children, scholars, farmers, workers and businessmen, and so on. Means of transportation: sedan chair, camel, ox cart, rickshaw, flat car and flatbed car. Vividly displayed in front of people.

In a total of more than five meters long picture scroll, * * * painted more than 550 people of various colors, including fifty or sixty cattle, horses, mules, donkeys and other livestock, more than 20 cars and bridges, and more than 20 ships of different sizes. Houses, bridges, towers, etc. They also have their own characteristics, reflecting the characteristics of architecture in the Song Dynasty. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan is a realistic genre painting depicting a corner of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty, which has high historical value and artistic level.