Zhang Zeduan

Zhang Zeduan

Zhang Zeduan (about 1085-1145), a master painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, was born in Dongwu, Langya (today's Shandong Zhucheng) and lived in Tokyo (today's Kaifeng, Henan). In Xuanhe period, he was an imperial official, and was good at painting buildings, houses, trees and figures. His custom paintings depict shops, bridges, streets and city walls in detail. They are accurate in boundary paintings. His image is like a bean man. He was eager to learn when he was young. In his early years, he traveled to Bianjing (now Kaifeng in Henan Province) and later studied painting.

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, he worked in Hanlin painting academy, specializing in painting palaces, especially boats, shops, bridges, streets and city walls. Later, he made a living by selling paintings and living in a lost home. The surviving works include the picture of Qingming River and the picture of Jinming pool, which are all the art treasures of ancient China.

Life of the characters

Zhang Zeduan was studious when he was young. In his early years, he traveled to Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), and later studied painting. In Song Huizong's time, he worked in Hanlin painting academy, specialized in painting palaces, especially in boats, shops, bridges, streets and city walls. Later, he made a living by selling paintings and living in a lost home. He was an outstanding realistic painter at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Most of his other works have been lost, such as the painting of the river at Qingming Festival and the painting of Jinming lake, which are the treasures of ancient Chinese art.

The picture of the river at Qingming Festival is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. In addition, the Tianjin Art Museum has a small piece of "West Lake competition for bid" signed by "Zhang Zeduan", which is a commissioned work and has been transferred to Tianjin Museum. Qingming Shanghe Tu is the best illustration of Dongjing Menghua Lu, Shengji Fu and Biandu Fu. It has great historical value. It not only inherits the long lost ancient Chinese genre painting, but also inherits the fine tradition of the early Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhang Zeduan, a famous painter in the late Northern Song Dynasty. As for Zhang Zeduan's life experience, there are no historical records in the historical books, which has been a mystery for thousands of years. There are only 85 words of information about the picture of the river at Qingming Festival and its author. These information are the three editions of Shiqu Baoji in the picture of the river at Qingming Festival, which is now in the Palace Museum. The first postscript is written by Zhang of Jin Dynasty. The full text of the postscript is as follows: "Zhang Zeduan, the Hanlin, has the right word and is also a member of Dongwu. He studied in the capital when he was young, and then he studied painting. I am a painter, especially in zhouche, shiqiaoguojing, and I have a family. According to Xiang's comments on pictures, the West Lake is selected as a masterpiece. “

The 85 character postscript written by Zhang Zeduan, a man of Jin Dynasty, at the back of Qingming Shanghe Tu in regular script is only 58 years since the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhang's postscript is the earliest record of Zhang Zeduan's life, and also the only record in the world. These 71 words are the basis of the later works and the author. Zhang himself has no exact record of his birth and death. There is such a written record in volume 7 of zhongzhouji: "Zhu, Zhongyang, Yongan. In the fifth year of Taihe (1205 AD), in the name of poetry, Yingzhi was summoned and called Zhi. He was granted special favor to jianyufu for calligraphy and painting. " It can be seen that Zhang's postscript to the picture of Qingming River was written 19 years before he entered jinneifu. At that time, Zhang should have been relatively young.

The introduction of Zhang Zeduan and his works in Zhang's postscript is quoted from Xiang's comments on calligraphy and painting. Xiang's comments on calligraphy and painting is the earliest description of Zhang Zeduan and Qingming Shanghe Tu. It's a pity that the book Xiang's comments on calligraphy and painting has been lost. We can only know something about the picture of Qingming River and Zhang Zeduan from Zhang's postscript, and Zhang Zeduan and the picture of Qingming River will be famous in later generations.

In the absence of other reliable and new materials, we can only learn about the picture of Qingming River and its author from Zhang's 71 character inscriptions and postscripts.

Brief introduction

The picture of Qingming River was originally a tribute to Huizong of Song Dynasty. It has been handed down for more than 800 years. Its main theme is to describe the living conditions of the residents in Tokyo, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the bustling scenes of shops and residents on the Bianhe river. It also depicts the busy scene of the transport of grain and rice goods through the Bianhe bridge. The work is magnificent, 528.7 cm long and 24.8 cm wide. There are 587 figures of different identities, each with both form and spirit, 13 kinds of animals and 9 kinds of plants. This masterpiece of realism is a valuable historical material for studying the economic and social life of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty.

The painting of jinmingchi is a lively scene of the emperor leading his officials to jinmingchi to watch the water war and dragon boat race. It is 28.6cm long and 28.5cm wide, and slightly square. This is a small picture of the scenery on the surface of the pool and on the Bank of the pool. This paper focuses on the description of the dragon boat in the pool and the boats around it. With the combination of movement and stillness, it gives a general picture of the whole scenery of Jinming pool and the scene of the emperor watching the bid. The picture is compact, the structure is rigorous, and the theme is prominent.

Artistic achievements

Zhang Zeduan, a famous painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, has a long volume of custom painting "Qingming River Painting", which is a rare treasure in the history of painting in China. In the picture, the city walls, shops, bridges and streets, the grass trees, horses, oxen, donkeys and camels, the residents, the travelers and the boats are all in the same state. This painting is rare and precious today. It is an excellent material for the study of urban life, architecture and painting in Song Dynasty.

With realistic technique and panoramic composition, it vividly and meticulously depicts the bustling scene and rich social customs of Kaifeng Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The whole picture is grand in scale, tight in structure, and orderly in composition. Its pen and ink skills, part-time writing, lively and concise, vivid and vivid characters, livestock shape, houses, boats, city walls, trees, bridges, rivers, all of them are perfect, which can be called the masterstroke. In ancient Chinese painting, there is a kind of scholar bureaucrat's self admiration. It is hard to find such a picture as "Qingming Shanghe Tu", which describes hundreds of people's market life and commercial and economic activities with a large amount of pen and ink, puts the people in the master position, and sums it up correctly. This is rare in ancient Chinese painting, even in modern painting Yes.

The first collector of this painting is song Huizong, who inscribed "Qingming Riverside" on the painting in thin gold body.

On the river at Qingming Festival

Introduction to paintings

"Qingming Shanghe Tu" is a silk version with light ink color. It is 24.8 cm in length and 528.7 cm in width. On the back, there are 13 inscriptions, such as Jin Zhang Zhu and Wu Kuan of Ming Dynasty, with 96 square seals. It is a picture of the urban landscape of Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng, Henan). There is no seal of the painter himself on the picture scroll collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing. It is confirmed that the author is Zhang Zeduan according to an inscription in the postscript of Zhang's work in Jin Dynasty. There are only a few words in Zhang's inscription: "Zhang Zeduan, the Hanlin, was born in Dongwu. He studied in the capital when he was young. Later, he learned how to draw. He worked in his field of painting, especially in Qiaoguo road in zhouche city. "However, Zhang Zeduan's name was not found in Xuanhe Huapu, which was completed in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Some people speculated that he entered the painting academy late, and the editors had no time to incorporate him into the book.

This painting scroll is a part of Bianliang city selected by the painter and depicted in detail, just like a section in the live video. From the vegetable garden in the outer city to the most prosperous area in the inner city, it makes the viewer enjoy it. When the audience came out of the Palace Museum, they were always admiring the exhibition. Apart from the grand momentum and superb realism of the whole painting, there are also excellent details to attract the audience.

Creative background

Zhang Zeduan, a native of Dongwu (today's Shandong Zhucheng), was born in Zhengdao. In his early years, he traveled to Bianjing and later studied painting. During the reign of Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty (1100-1126), he worked in Hanlin Painting Academy. The technique of drawing lines with boundary pen and ruler in Chinese painting is used to show the theme of palace, building and house. He is especially good at drawing boats, shops, bridges, streets and city walls. His paintings have their own style. Most of Zhang Zeduan's paintings have been lost, only the picture of Qingming River has been preserved.

Zhang Zeduan lived in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty and the 12th century when the Southern Song Dynasty confronted the Jin Dynasty. The class contradiction and the national contradiction were extremely sharp, and reached an increasingly intensified level. At that time, the seemingly peaceful scene had hidden profound social unrest and crisis. In this historical context, he created a long historical volume "Qingming River map".

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing was extremely prosperous, with four rivers running through the city and four land routes. It was the national water and land transportation center, with developed commerce, ranking first in the country, and a population of more than 1 million at that time. There are many busy markets in Bianjing city. There are all kinds of shops and even night markets. During the Spring Festival, the capital is even more lively. In order to show the prosperity of the capital, Zhang Zeduan chose the scene of Qingming, an important festival. The picture of Qingming River mainly depicts the scene of water and land transportation and busy market in the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Before the Northern Song Dynasty, Chinese figure painting mainly focused on religion and noble life. Although Zhang Zeduan works in the Hanlin painting academy, his works are called "Yuanti painting" or "Yuanhua", but he extends his brush to the life of the people of all walks of life, creating a depiction

Chinese PinYin : Zhang Ze Duan