"Picture of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty" is a picture scroll by the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan describing the life of Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The 5-meter-long painting paper vividly records people's food, clothing, housing and transportation during the Song Huizong period, and also leaves a cultural treasure for future generations.
The first time I saw the "Qingming Upper River Map", I naturally thought that Zhang Zeduan wanted to paint the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty, after all, the painting was full of people, bustling, and not lively.
But when connoisseurs took out a magnifying glass to savor it, they found that Zhang Zeduan's painting was full of strangeness, which made people's backs feel cold.
The story in "Qingming Shanghe Tu" is the predecessor of Kaifeng more than 800 years ago.
The emperor at that time was named Zhao Yao, that is, Emperor Huizong of Song.
At that time, Kaifeng was much more prosperous than it is now, and it was the largest city in the world, with 100,000 permanent residents.
The night market that modern urbanites cannot do without is also opened from the Song Dynasty, and the Northern Song Dynasty commerce and trade have achieved prosperity during the Song Huizong, and the annual tax revenue is equivalent to 208 billion yuan, which is the highest GDP in the world at that time.
In Zhang Zeduan's pen, the life of the Bianjing people was recorded by him with a brush, so that we can see the most real appearance of the Song Dynasty more than 800 years ago.
One detail that is a little embarrassing, in a small corner of the picture, a man is cooling under a tree. Probably because it was too hot, he took off his pants and wore only a pair of red profane clothes, that is, underwear.
Looking at the appearance of several people next to him, it seems strange, which can also show that in fact, ancient people did not dress so conservatively at all, and we were all misled by the TV series.
In addition, there is a delivery boy in the picture, who is carrying a smoothie in his hand and hurrying to deliver it to customers, which is also known as the earliest takeaway.
None of these details proves that Zhang Zheduan recorded the most authentic Northern Song Dynasty, and many details in the painting can be used as a reference for studying the history of the Song Dynasty.
However, Zhang Zeduan's pen not only has these witty and humorous pictures, but also many carefully pondered and terrifying details.
At the frontispiece, Zhang Zeduan depicts a group of centaurs, seemingly fresh from hunting in the suburbs, with servants carrying pheasants and rabbits.
Looks normal at first glance, right? But don't ignore a historical fact, ancient people are very aware of environmental protection, and there are strict time limits for chopping wood and hunting, otherwise they will be pulled away and beheaded.
The Song Dynasty had a rule that hunting was not allowed from February to November every year, because this time was when animals reproduced, and hunting was not allowed because it was feared that people would overkill and cause animal extinction.
Judging from the clothes of the people in the "Qingming Shanghe Map", not only is it not winter, but it is also a little hot, obviously in the fishing ban period.
But these people not only openly ignored the ban, but also swaggered down the street, not afraid of being arrested by officials.
Such an abnormal picture was actually intentional by Zhang Zeduan, because what he wanted to express was that the politics at that time were not as clear as the name of the scroll, but more about official corruption and inaction.
Third, during the Song Dynasty, commerce developed prosperously, and there were countless shops on a street in Bianjing, and the probability of fire was much higher than in ordinary places.
In addition, many buildings in Bianjing are close to each other, and once a fire occurs, it will be very serious, and may even harm people's lives.
Therefore, the people of the Song Dynasty paid special attention to fire prevention, and there were special firefighters.
Every other distance, a lookout pavilion will be set up, so that once a fire occurs, firefighters can rush over to extinguish the fire and save people at the first time.
The idea is good, the problem is that it has not been implemented.
There was not a single official on duty in these fire pavilions, and it was empty, but it became a pavilion for the common people to cool off and escape the summer.
Let me ask, if there is no one on duty, there will be no one to observe the fire in time, and once a fire occurs, how to find and extinguish it in the first place?
But this is only a refraction, indicating that the politics of Song Huizong has been corrupt and neglectful, but Song Huizong did not care at all, or even knew about it.
Let's take a look at the countless ships in the painting, most of which are boats carrying grain.
After seeing these details, some people will feel that Bianjing is indeed rich and charming, and the ships are transporting grain. But if you look closely, you'll see that these ships are really scary here!
Food is the lifeblood of the country, and the delivery of grain should be handled by the government, after all, only by mastering food and arms can we seize power.
But look at these ships, which one is a ship of the government?
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, he decreed that all grain in economically important areas must be controlled by the imperial court, and no one should allow private grain to enter for any reason.
But now, these private grains have not only entered Bianjing, but also swaggered in, helping to beckon the guys to send the grain ashore.
According to historical records, just seven or eight years later, the price of grain in Bianjing quadrupled. After the war with the Jin people, when Bianjing was besieged, the price of grain rose 100 times.
In the story of "Qingming Shanghe Tu", it seems to be very prosperous, the people live and work in peace, and the politics are even more clear. The bridge is full of people, boats shuttle in the river, shop owners greet customers with smiles and smiles, and ordinary people live a prosperous life, shuttling and shopping in different shops.
But really take out a magnifying glass and carefully observe every corner detail, you will find a lot of things wrong.
And this mistake will gradually pile up, collide with history, and make people shudder.
"Qingming Shanghe Tu" does not describe prosperity, but Zhang Zeduan's black humor. As early as when he was painting, he already knew what the future of the Song Dynasty would look like, and he tried to use a painting to awaken Song Huizong's vigilance so that he could rectify it.
However, this Song Huizong only loves calligraphy and painting all his life, and the development of calligraphy is really good, and his thin gold body is still being learned. It is precisely with the support of Song Huizong that we have left so many famous poems and paintings to future generations.
But he was a king first and an artist second.
At the end of the volume of "Qingming Shanghe Map", Zhang Zeduan cleverly used the whereabouts of shops and people, and actually put forward his own three questions:
Ask the doctor, ask the word, ask the life.
It was originally a deafening problem, and he thought that he could make Song Huizong wake up, but he did not expect that he was already terminally ill, blinded by the false prosperity of the Song Dynasty at this moment, and also went farther and farther on the road to the abyss.
Perhaps, Zhang Zeduan did not regret it, after all, he had completed everything that he should say and do as a human courtier.
But if the king is not clear, what can he do?