In the Northern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, in addition to Wang Ximeng, there was also a Zhang Zeduan who came from the grassroots.
Because the mainland has always paid little attention to art workers in ancient times, even the lives of painters with amazing talents such as Wang Ximeng and Zhang Zeduan are rarely recorded in detail.
According to limited sources, Zhang Zeduan was a native of Dongwu, Shandong, with a correct character, who received a formal education when he was a child, and also traveled to the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Beijing, to study, and later began to learn to paint.
But genius is genius, and once he learned painting, he made very fast progress, and even entered the Hanlin Painting Academy, specializing in boundary painting.
The so-called boundary painting is a painting method that draws lines with a boundary ruler. It originated in the Jin Dynasty, mainly used to paint architectural landscapes (the source of interior design, garden design), Tang Yide Prince Li Chongrun's "Que Lou Tu" on the west wall of the tomb road is the earliest existing large-scale boundary painting in the mainland.
The purpose of the creation of boundary painting is to be neat and realistic, and the shape is accurate. This laid a solid artistic foundation for Zhang Zeduan's painting "Qingming on the River".
However, "Qingming On the River" is not a boundary painting, it is classified as a genre painting.
What is Genre Painting?
Genre paintings are not paintings from the customs shops of the island country, but rather portraits based on the customs of social life.
There are many genre paintings in the portrait bricks of the Han Dynasty, reflecting the life of the tomb owner's manor.
Genre painting on Han portrait bricks
In the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the increase in folk painters, custom paintings reflecting the development of urban economy and urban and rural life also appeared in large quantities. For example, Yan Wengui once painted "Qixi Night Market Map", depicting the prosperity of the night market in the panlou area of Bieliang; Gao Yuanhengshan painted the Beijing ShiCha ma, Qionglin Garden, night market and so on.
Most of these painters are familiar with the life and mental state of the public, reflecting folk customs and market conditions in their works, and showing the new achievements in the development of figure painting in the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Zeduan's "Qingming Upper River Map" represents the highest level of genre painting in the Song Dynasty.
《Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty》
It is said that Zhang Zeduan's painting "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" was also ordered by Emperor Huizong of Song to depict the "prosperous scenery" under his rule. To this end, Emperor Huizong of Song also specially approved a year's vacation and a farm for Zhang Zeduan to paint.
If Zhang Zeduan obediently painted a "panorama of the capital" that whitewashed Taiping according to the emperor's wishes, then his status in the history of Chinese art would not be so high. Zhang Zeduan's greatness lies in his loyalty to his own heart and reality, and he created a masterpiece that truly reflects the hidden dangers in the prosperity of the late Northern Song Dynasty.
Why?
The general entry-level appreciation will tell you:
"Qingming on the River Map", silk, ink pen light coloring, length 527. 8 cm, height 25 cm. The whole volume is composed in a panoramic style and has a rigorous and delicate brushwork, showing the style of the Qing and Ming Dynasties in the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. The picture can be roughly divided into three sections: the opening is the rural scenery of the suburbs; the middle section is the Bian River and its banks centered on the Hongqiao; and the latter section is the bustling scene inside and outside the city gate. The focus of the picture is on the tense scene of the mid-range ship crossing the Rainbow Bridge.
A smile tells you that these are just appearances, and the real mystery is hidden in the details of the picture.
Let's start at the city gate – I ask you, did you see the soldiers guarding the city at the city gate?
Nothing, right? What does it mean that there is no security check at the gates of the capital?
At that time, the Northern Song Dynasty was not without foreign enemies, the Jin Dynasty, the Liao State, the Western Xia, the Tubo... None of them are good stubble, in this case, the defense is still loose, there is no vigilance, it is simply a death!
Zhang Zeduan also deliberately painted the Western Hu merchants and camel caravans at the city gate, do you think, how many spies are there? That's it!
Where did the soldier go?
Looking ahead, outside the city gate, there is a barracks.
Outside the barracks, several soldiers sat idly, bored, and even lay down to sleep. The horses in the yard were also lying on their stomachs, looking withered.
The armament is so loose that there is still any combat effectiveness? Why defend the country?
Let's turn our attention to the so-called "center point of the picture" Hongqiao.
On the Hongqiao, the military attaché on horseback and the civilian official in the sedan met and did not give in to each other, and the servants quarreled with each other - the dispute between the civil and military forces of the Northern Song Dynasty can be seen.
Looking at the side of the road, that is, on both sides of the bridge deck, do you feel that all kinds of vendors are crowded together, out of order?
Coupled with the emergency avoidance of the big ship under the bridge, do you feel very confused? No one is there to guide the management at all?
You must know that at that time, Beijing was the world's largest metropolis, known as "Beijing is rich and beautiful in the world"! Urban management is actually like this, and the internal emptiness is so bluntly pierced by Zhang Zeduan.
Of course, the prosperity of Fenjing is also depicted.
For example: the drink shops that we are now popular on the streets, the Northern Song Dynasty had;
There are also vertical light boxes, too;
There are many five-star restaurants;
……
But these prosperity, in the eyes of foreign enemies, is an unlocked vault, an unguarded beauty.
Zhang Zeduan dedicated such a painting.
Song Huizong is also an artistic master, especially paying attention to details, how can he not see Zhang Zeduan's intentions?
But the work was indeed well drawn, and Song Huizong stamped it, signed it, and put it on the shelf.
Zhang Zeduan was expelled from the painting academy and made a living for himself.
Before long, the painter's fears happened.
In 1126, Jin soldiers attacked Fenjing and took Emperor Huizong of Song and Emperor Qinzong of Song captive back to the Jin Kingdom.
I don't know if Emperor Huizong of Song, who became a prisoner, remembered the "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" and regretted what he had done.
Fortunately, the "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" escaped the disaster in the war and has been passed down to this day.
For more than a thousand years, this painting has been famous and widely favored, and there are many imitators. According to statistics, there are more than 30 extant works called "Qingming Upper River Map".
However, everyone can rest assured that Zhang Zeduan's original works are still preserved in the Palace Museum in Beijing and exhibited from time to time.
In addition to zhang Zeduan's "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty", there is also the "West Lake Bidding Map" (also known as the "Jinmingchi Bidding Map") based on the grand dragon boat competition held in the West Jinmingchi (also known as the "West Lake") in the capital city, the original work has been lost, and the existing works of the same theme painted by the Southern Song Dynasty can be seen in the outline).
"Jin Mingchi Controversy Map"
In fact, even if he only has the work "Qingming on the River", it is enough to stand in the annals of history and deserve to be one of the most outstanding painters in China.
"Qingming On the River Map", with its exceptional richness of content, high degree of historical authenticity, and incomparably vivid and true artistic expression, has become one of the top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation in the mainland, and is a top masterpiece of immortal significance in the history of ancient painting in the mainland!
This article is a companion article to "Fun talk about the history of Chinese characters/calligraphy" and a series of articles on the history of Chinese art (tentative name). Every minute, harvest a lifetime of knowledge, you deserve it! Pay attention to the previous article, and prompt the update in time. Please indicate the source of the reprint, welcome to the publisher to contact me.