A Moving Masterpiece
The ExhibitBased off the scroll, Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the exhibit shows the life of 12th century Chinese in a way never seen before. High resolution scans were taken of the scroll, animators have used projections and 6 meter tall screens to bring the 900 year old art work to life. The exhibit begins with panels with information on the artist as well as the piece. Viewers then move from right to left, the direction traditional scrolls were intended to be read. Each step reveals more about the city, the surrounding countryside, and the inhabitants. Over 1,000 individual figures roam the streets, countryside, and river going about their everyday life. The daily activities of the townspeople begin to slow down as the scroll turns to night, something the animation team had create completely from scratch. Below the massive screens, members of the team created a virtual river, with projections of ripples to create a realistic scene.
|
|
The Scroll Titled Qing Ming Shang He Tu, or Along the River During the Qingming Festival, the scroll captures the lifestyle of inhabitants of a city during the 12th century. Commissioned by the royal court of the Song Dynasty, the scroll became wildly popular among Chinese, and since its original creation has been duplicated and copied numerous times. Calligraphy accompanies the images in the upper part of the scroll, describing the individuals in the scenes. Red stamps with names of previous owners are found throughout , this was very common for Chinese scrolls. The image below is a panorama of the original hand scroll, nearly 6 meters long and ten inches wide.
|
The ImpactThe Song Dynasty capital was located in a city called Kaifeng, which was burnt down, leaving virtually nothing for scholars and historians to study from the once bustling city. From the carefully documented Along the River During the Qingming Festival, modern day historians have been able to understand and research the city. They have relied on the details from the hand scroll to determine class structure, goods that were exchanged, and technologies that were used. The artwork has been able to serve as one of the only remaining pieces of evidence from the city of Kaifeng.
|
The Artist Along the River During the Qingming Festival was created over 900 years ago during the Song Dynasty in China by an artist named Zhang Zeduan, also called Zheng Dao. He was one of the forerunners for the revival of a style known as "shan shui," a type of painting that uses ink rather than paint. He painted for the royal court during the time of the transition from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty. It is believed after the transition he received criticism over his works.
|
Sources
"Asia for Educators, Columbia University," http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/pop/c_scroll.htm
Alexandra A. Seno, November 2, 2010, "'River of Wisdom' is Hong Kong's Hottest Ticket," The Wallstreet Journal.
"Zhang Zeduan: One Painting Made Him Known to the World," http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/77Arts6654.html.
Alexandra A. Seno, November 2, 2010, "'River of Wisdom' is Hong Kong's Hottest Ticket," The Wallstreet Journal.
"Zhang Zeduan: One Painting Made Him Known to the World," http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/77Arts6654.html.