Qing ming Shanghe Tu - A Moving Masterpiece

Qingming Shanghe Tu is a Panoramic Chinese scroll painting by Zhang Zeduan. Literally, qingming 清明 means “clear-bright,” and shanghe tu 上河圖 means  “going-along-the-river-picture.” Another possible translation of the scroll’s name is  “Spring Festival,” referring to the Qingming festival when, in early spring, the  living sweep the graves of their ancestors. 


An 18th century remake is shown in the video below. However, you can see the 12th century scroll in this site or here

Introduction

... In 1954 Chinese scholars announced the discovery of a previously unknown scroll in the Beijing Palace Museum, where it had been returned from Manchuria after World War II. It was entitled Qingming shanghe tu 清明上河圖. Most scholars now accept this as the earliest extant version of the scroll ... and date it to the twelfth century.

The Handscroll Format

The Beijing scroll is a handscroll measuring 25.5 centimeters (10.03 inches) in height and stretching 5.25 meters (5.74 yards) in length, done in monochrome ink on silk. The original has faded to a warm brown with a few details — like the green buds of willows — in color.  Although the scroll is over eight hundred years old, it is in surprisingly good condition, with only a few patches and many fine vertical cracks along the grain of the silk.

Even though modern museums often display handscrolls stretched out full-length under a glass case, they were originally intended to be held by the viewer, who would unroll only an arm’s length section at a time. Starting at the right end of the scroll, and progressing to the left, the viewer determined the pace. The Beijing scroll includes many moments of suspense to entice the viewer to keep on looking. Because, with the use of perspective, the artist can make something seem to come closer and then to recede, a handscroll can show the same object from different angles. The Beijing scroll often employs an overhead perspective, as if one is watching the people and activities from above — standing on a city wall perhaps — but occasionally the artist dramatically shifts his angle of vision. In the center of the scroll, the artist first paints the underside of the central bridge and then draws back to depict the many people and shops on top of the bridge. ...

Features of the Painting

In the 5.28-meter long picture, there are 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, nine sedan chairs, and 170 trees drawn. The countryside and the densely populated city are the two main sections in the picture, with the river meandering through the entire length.

The right section is the rural area of the city. There are crop fields and unhurried rural folk—predominately farmers, goatherds, and pig herders—in bucolic scenery. A country path broadens into a road and joins with the city road.

The left half is the urban area, which eventually leads into the city proper with the gates. Many economic activities, such as people loading cargoes onto the boat, shops, and even a tax office, can be seen in this area. People from all walks of life are depicted: peddlers, jugglers, actors, paupers begging, monks asking for alms, fortune tellers and seers, doctors, innkeepers, teachers, millers, metalworkers, carpenters, masons, and official scholars from all ranks.

Digital version

For a three month period in the World Expo 2010 presented at the China Pavilion, the painting was remade into an 3D animated, viewer-interactive digital version, titled River of Wisdom, about 30 times the size of the original scroll. The computer animated mural, with moving characters and objects and portraying the scene in 4-minute day to night cycles, was one of the primary exhibitions in the Chinese Pavilion, drawing queues up to two hours with a reservation. Elaborate computer animation gives life to in the painting.

After the Expo, the digital version was on display at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong from November 9 to November 29, 2010, where it was a major commercial success. It was then exhibited at theMacau Dome in Macau from March 25 to April 14. The digital painting also traveled to Taiwan and displayed at the Expo Dome in Taipei from July 1 to September 4, 2011. From December 7, 2011 to February 6, 2012, under the exhibition titled A Moving Masterpiece: The Song Dynasty As Living Art, the painting is being exhibited at the Singapore Expo from 7 Dec2011 to 8 Feb 2012...

Hence, I took the opportunity to see the digital version of this grand masterpiece at the Expo in Singapore.  The digital version has been seen by more than 10 million people.

First, there is the Pre-Show Hall which shows:

• An immersive experience of the Song Dynasty and the elements that make it a vibrant capital city

• Learn about the achievements of this ancient Global City, its innovations and their relevance today

• Explore the urban lifestyle of the Song citizen – from festivals and celebrations, to recreation and leisure activities

If you are interested to learnt more about the urban life of the people during the 12th century Song Dynasty, refer to this document from Yale University.

 A Scholar Returns to his Village

Importance of the 5 Elements: Fire, Earth, Wood, Water, Gold

The digital version has taken 2 long years to convert. The creators of the digital version of Qing Ming Shang He Tu, which is 30 times larger than the original, are Crystal CG Shanghai, one of China’s leading companies in digital technology. 

Crystal CG Shanghai’s director, Yu Zheng, says: “It was a mind-blowing experience to re-create this work of art, which every Chinese person is familiar with. My team and I felt enormous pressure to make sure we could do justice to the original. In the end, we are very proud of the final product as it brings a whole new dimension to appreciating the original. It also makes the artwork relevant to a new generation of younger tech-savvy audiences.”

And some panoramic here views captured from my Sony camera.

You can see the animated digital version of the painting in the 2 videos below with nice Chinese music. Amazing !!

The wooden bridge (the center piece of the painting) depicted in the original version would later be rebuilt by a team of engineers and documented by the PBS television show NOVA during their Secrets of Empire series.  You can see how they try to reconstruct the bridge.