During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing was extremely prosperous, with four rivers passing through the city and four land routes. It is a national land and water transportation center, and its commercial development ranks first in the country. At that time, its population exceeded 1 10,000. There are many lively markets, shops and even night markets in Bianjing City. On holidays, the capital is even more lively. In order to show the prosperity of Beijing, Zhang Zeduan chose the scene of Qingming, an important festival, and gave 59 performances. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival shows the land and water transportation and busy market in the capital of Northern Song Dynasty.
The center of the Riverside Map on Qingming Festival consists of a rainbow-shaped bridge and the street surface of Qiaotou Street. At first glance, crowded and chaotic; A closer look shows that these people are from different industries and engage in various activities. There are some vendors and many tourists on the west side of the bridge. There are knives, scissors and groceries on the stall. There are tea sellers and fortune tellers. Many tourists lean against the railings by the bridge, or point at them, or watch the ships coming and going in the river. On the sidewalk in the middle of the bridge, there are bustling people; There are people who ride cars, ride horses, carry loads, drive donkeys, transport goods and push unicycles ... The south side of the bridge is connected with the street. On both sides of the street are teahouses, pubs, pawn shops and workshops. There are many vendors with big umbrellas in the open spaces on both sides of the street. The street extends eastward and westward to the quiet suburb outside the city, but there are still pedestrians on the street: some are carrying goods, some are driving ox carts to deliver goods, some are driving donkeys to pull trucks, and some stop to watch the scenery of Bianhe River.
There are many boats coming and going on the Bian River, which can be described as a race in Qian Fan. Some are parked near the dock, and some are driving in the river. Some big ships were overloaded, and the owners hired many trackers to tow them. A big ship carrying goods has passed under the bridge and will soon cross bridge opening. At this time, the boatman on this big ship is very busy. Some people stood at the top of the canopy and put down their sails; Some people are struggling to support the pole by the boat; Some people hold the ceiling of bridge opening with long poles, so that the boat can pass safely with the water. This tense scene attracted the attention of tourists on the bridge and nearby boatmen, who stood by and cheered. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival vividly depicts the busy and tense traffic scene on the Bianhe River, adding more vitality to the painting.
Zhang Zeduan has a high artistic generalization, which makes The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival reach a high artistic level. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is unprecedented in its rich content, numerous characters and grand scale. The picture of Riverside Scene on Qingming Festival is dense and orderly, from quiet suburbs to bustling city streets, attracting people everywhere.
Before the Northern Song Dynasty, China's figure painting was dominated by religion and aristocratic life. Although Zhang Zeduan worked in the Hanlin Painting Academy, his works were all called "courtyard paintings" or "courtyard paintings", but he extended his brush to the lives of people from all walks of life and created social genre paintings describing urban and rural life. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival draws a large number of various figures. Moreover, the movements and expressions of each character in Zhang Zeduan are vivid. This fully shows that Zhang Zeduan's life is very rich and his creative skills are very skillful.