While travelling in Surabya, Indonesia, I acquired a fold-out book of about 20 leaves. I never knew what the book depicted, so I placed it on the shelf, hoping to find out. After showing it to many people over the years who said they did not know, the puzzle concluded yesterday when historian John Tan recognized it immediately.
The art is a reproduction of a scroll inked during the Song Dynasty(960-1279) of the Quing Ming Festival. The festival celebrates the Chinese ancestors and the cleaning of the graves but also shows the everyday lives of the people.
Penned by artist Zhang Zedong, the scroll is entitled “Along the River during the Quing Ming”. The painting is considered the most outstanding work of all Chinese images and is often called China’s “Mona Lisa”. From Wikipedia I learned the scroll was kept by various people in private hands until it was presented to Emperor Puyi. In 1924, he took the scroll with him when Bejing was invaded. It was recovered in 1945 and kept at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.
The painting is 25.5 centimetres and 5.25 meters long.(the same size as my reproduction). The composition has 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, eight sedan chairs and 170 trees. The right section shows a rural area and follows the river as it meanders through the busy part of the city. The left half is an urban area followed and then flows out to a rural area.
My copy is printed on a gold cloth with the etchings in black ink. The book has grey covers. The Chinese writing is pre-1949. I have no idea as to its value.
… Life is good
Tom
Borneohistory.net
