Figure 1
Figure 2 Great American Chinese painting
One of the interpretations of the series of national treasure paintings "Qingming On the River"
Northern Song Dynasty Zhang Zeduan 'Map of the Upper River of the Qing Dynasty' scroll Silk Pale Color Length 24.8 cm Width 528 cm Collection of the Palace Museum
On April 23, 2022, World Book Day, on this night, I was thrilled like a child. At that time, I was working with dozens of readers and friends to count online how many people were drawn in "Qingming on the River". At first, I encouraged everyone with enthusiasm, and later, everyone's seriousness encouraged me in turn. After counting, I became excited, and I felt that the seemingly boring thing of counting people was so beautiful.
In the long history of classical Chinese aesthetics, the status of "Qingming Upper River Map" can be said to be extremely important, it can be called one of the greatest ancient paintings in China, and at the same time, it is also one of the most familiar ancient paintings in contemporary ordinary Chinese. However, such a national treasure painting, how many people are painted in it, has always been controversial. Some say more than five hundred people were painted, and some say more than a thousand. These two numbers come from researchers, not ordinary people's words, but the difference between the two is so much! Shouldn't this be alarming?
So before writing the book "Qingming on the River: A Day in the Song Dynasty," I counted the number of people several times, and the last time, it was a count done with computer software, and the result was 806 people. My attitude is, of course, serious, but seriousness does not necessarily make no mistake. I've always been open to my statistics. After the publication of "Qingming on the River Map: A Day in the Song Dynasty", because I left contact information in the book, there were readers who added me to WeChat, I thought, since the publishing house wants me to do an activity on World Book Day, then I will greet you in the circle of friends to see who is willing to join me and count the number of people in the "Qingming River Map" again. So, there was the night of World Book Day.
I did this: I opened the ultra-high-definition electronic file of the Qingming River Map on the computer, and then "pushed" it to the live broadcast platform, so that everyone could see my operation on the computer. If I miss the number, I'll be alerted in the comments section. I know that in the past, some people used to count rice grains, and this serious spirit is admirable, but there is an advantage of using computer software to count, that is, counting is automatic, that is, when you see a person, click with the mouse, the number will naturally increase by one, and there is no need to add it at the end. In this way, we spent two and a half hours to complete the full volume of statistics, and the number was 815.
9 more than my own statistic proved me wrong, but I was still happy.
I said, "Friends, tonight we are counting the number of people together, which is both a small thing and a big thing: counting is a small thing that primary school students will do, but the number of people who are collectively counted by our enthusiasts is the first time since its inception, so it is a historical event." ”
I joke that we accidentally made history, and everyone can go to the same place with their relatives and friends.
My words are a little early.
After the live broadcast, the participant of the event, the painter Liang Xiuling (Yí), told me that I had a small number of six or seven people in the live broadcast just now. Because I counted quickly, he would have time to remind me one by one. Mr. Liang is a repaint of the "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" and an extremely serious person, and I certainly attach great importance to his opinions. So I proposed, and then we counted again.
It's April 24th. At 11:00 a.m., I went online again and waited for two people to enter the online conference room, one of whom was of course Liang Xiuling, and the other was Feng Yuntao, executive president of the Qingming Upper River Map Research Association— please Mr. Feng, first, he is also an expert in the study of the Qingming Upper River Map, and he has personally counted the number of people; second, if Mr. Liang and I have a disagreement about whether an image is a character, the three of them are good to vote.
Our statistical standard has always been according to my original setting, that is, as long as a little body is exposed, even if it is a sleeve and a foot, it is considered a person; on the other hand, if even the part of the body cannot be seen, it is only speculative that there are people, then it cannot be counted.
Finally, the statistical results are as follows: the number of people depicted in the "Qingming Upper River Map" is - 835 (of which 2 are suspicious).
For this statistic, we welcome the doubts and challenges of people from all walks of life.
Some people may say, how many people are painted in "Qingming on the River", is it so important? Why do you have to stumble so accurately?
In fact, it is very important.
First of all, when "more than five hundred people" and "more than a thousand people" coexist, our younger generation of researchers should carefully count and seek as accurate a number as possible, which is the minimum respect for the national treasure painting "Qingming On the River".
Secondly, counting the number of people is also a way to seriously look at the painting, and even, it can be a basic way to look at the "Qingming River Map". When we make every effort to observe every detail of the picture scroll and do not miss any clues, we have achieved the most extreme close look at the picture scroll.
Looking closely, it is the best way for ordinary people to look at ancient paintings that I especially advocate. Because only when you look closely at the painting with your own eyes is when you are really looking at the painting. Looking at it in a sloppy way, not really looking, let alone just listening to people talk about painting.
What makes me very happy is that through the book, I have met many equally serious and enthusiastic friends, among them, there are senior teachers such as Mr. Yu Hui, there are colleagues in the Qingming Shanghe Map Research Association, and more and more readers who feel sorry for each other, so that "counting the number" has added another meaning: to reunite love with seriousness.
Finally, I would like to ask the readers of Beijing Youth Daily to look at two pictures, please count, how many people are in each of the paintings? I am waiting for your answer in the WeChat group.
Author: Tian Yubin, writer, scholar, consultant of the Qingming Upper River Map Research Association, author of "Chinese Painting Is Good to Look" and "Qingming Upper River Map: A Day in the Song Dynasty" and so on.