Introduction: One of the top ten famous paintings in China, it has become a household name in 918 years, but few people know who the painter is? After several turns, fortunately, it escaped the seal of the stamped demon Qianlong, but it was smuggled out of the Forbidden City by Puyi and almost destroyed, what kind of tortuous experience did it have?
Among the many cultural relics that have been unearthed in China at present, there are really few that can be called national treasures.
The value of cultural relics also has some measures, either historical or artistic.
Some things can be said to be cultural relics, but they may not have any value.
If it can be called a national treasure-level cultural relic, its own value is immeasurable.
Several existing national treasure-level cultural relics have some adventures when they are excavated through inheritance.
For example, the famous Qingming River Map, which is a well-deserved national treasure level cultural relic, is also one of the famous paintings in China.
It has a very high status in the field of calligraphy and painting, and this national treasure has been handed down to this day, experiencing 918 Spring and Autumn Festivals and witnessing the rise and fall of many dynasties.
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People who know a little about cultural relics in China know the status of the Qingming Shanghe Map, and in the history of ancient painting based on freehand, this realistic painting is very unique.
It is 24.8 cm wide and 528.7 cm long, and the whole text depicts the situation of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Fenjing, and all kinds of buildings and various figures are painted on the map.
The characters are lifelike, the structure is exquisite, the painting is excellent, and it has a very high artistic value.
Of course, the historical value of this painting is also very high, it is equivalent to reproducing the living environment of the Song Dynasty at that time, and later generations of people studying the history of the Song Dynasty will refer to this painting.
Speaking from the heart, this painting should be on the artistic value alone, which may not be very prominent in some famous paintings.
But its comprehensive value is higher, which also makes it a national treasure level cultural relic.
Since its inception, the Qingming Shanghe Map has been doomed to the ups and downs of its life, and this painting was created by the famous painter Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Interestingly, Zhang Zeduan's own fame is far worse than this painting, Qingming on the river map, but all the Chinese, nine out of ten know, can be described as a household name, but Zhang Zeduan himself is rarely remembered.
His record of this person in the history books is very limited, people do not know his life, and as for his works, few of them survive.
Just by looking at the length of this painting, as well as the craftsmanship and conception, it can be seen that Zhang Zeduan's observation of the capital city is very careful, and his painting skills are very outstanding, which can create such a good painting.
However, Zhang Zeduan created this painting to persuade the emperor to attach importance to the country.
In the painting, under the bustling appearance of the capital city, many potential contradictions have long emerged, and although the city is bustling, there are many crises hidden.
For example, there will be many beggars in the capital of the prosperous world, and the officers and soldiers are lazy and disorderly, which can see the crisis within the Song Dynasty.
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There has been controversy about the timing of the painting's creation, but it appeared at the end of the Song Dynasty.
With the Jing Kang Disaster, the painting also fell from the court of the Song Dynasty to the hands of the Jin people.
Subsequently, the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties included it in the palace collection, and there were also cases of being secretly sold.
During the period of circulation, many versions of the Qingming Shanghe Map appeared, which were deliberately forged by some people or imitated out of love.
Of course, the ancients also had a bad habit, that is, they liked to stamp on calligraphy and painting, and there were many collectors of the Qingming River Map, and there were many seals on it. For example, the famous Qianlong Emperor was a stamped demon, fortunately Qianlong had died at that time.
Fortunately, after such a long period of inheritance, the painting can still be preserved, and the original version is still preserved in the Forbidden City.
However, in other places, there are also versions of different periods, and these versions also have some treasure value, but the real national treasure is only the original version of Zhang Zeduan.
It has changed hands many times in the inheritance, both in peacetime and in the fires of war.
Although he escaped the seal of the seal-stamped demon Qianlong, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, he was smuggled away by Puyi and almost destroyed! At that time, Puyi took away most of the treasures in the Forbidden City, and the Qingming River Map was inside.
Subsequently, the puppet state of Manchukuo collapsed, many cultural relics brought out by Puyi were destroyed in the war, many were robbed by people, and the painting was almost destroyed.
In 1945, before the Japanese army withdrew from Changchun, many local people were driven to the pseudo-imperial palace, resulting in many famous paintings being lost to the people.
Zhang Kewei, who was the chief of staff of the Changchun Garrison District Headquarters at the time, was knowledgeable and well aware of the value of these national treasures.
Soldiers were dispatched to collect more than 10 volumes of precious calligraphy and paintings lost from the pseudo-imperial palace through local cadres.
It just so happened that there was "Qingming on the River Map", in 1948, the country had just settled down, Zhang Kewei could not delay, immediately handed over all the calligraphy and paintings to the Northeast Political Committee, and then found a cultural relics appraisal commissioner, the appraisal results made everyone very happy, this is known to be a famous painting! It is a national treasure!
Then "Qingming on the River Map" was transferred to the Palace Museum in Beijing, and after several turns, it finally found its final destination.
Unfortunately, in 1974, Zhang Kewei, who was already a rare year, died unjustly, and he struggled for the cause of the country all his life.
The protection of the "Qingming River Map" is even more immeasurable!
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Many of the best works in history have not been preserved due to the fire of war, or collectors have destroyed these masterpieces out of selfish desires.
After it was preserved, it also played a very key role in the development of painting in later generations.
For example, after the founding of New China, the art education carried out mainly referred to many painting techniques and concepts in the Qingming Shanghe Map, and many textbooks used some of its illustrations.
This realistic style has influenced countless painters, and it is also for this reason that it has a very great reputation at home and abroad, and if you carefully understand the past and present lives of this painting, you can also appreciate its unique charm.
Not only its fame and value, but also its bumpy experience alone is already legendary.
Unlike many things, paintings from the Tang and Song dynasties can be preserved very limited, and the original preservation is even rarer, and the Qingming Upper River Map has also been considered to be fake, and there are some defects.
There are many controversies related to it that have not yet come to a clear conclusion, which is also the other side of its legend.
Unfortunately, this ancient painting is too old, and it will certainly suffer some damage in the process of inheritance.
Therefore, this painting has also become very fragile, and the paintings mainly on silk cloth are easily subject to strong light and damp erosion, which leads to the qingming upper river map has no way to exhibit for a long time, and can only appear from time to time.
Many people also have no way to really see the original appearance of this painting, but there are already many derivatives related to the Qingming River Map, and people do not have to look at the original version to appreciate this painting.
The most interesting thing about this painting is that in the era when there was no camera, it was possible to draw such a huge panorama, as if it really moved the capital city directly into the painting.
There are so many characters in the whole painting, there are many details worth scrutinizing, and now people have studied this painting very deeply, but as the research continues, there will still be many interesting details and meanings found, which is the charm of the Qingming River Map.