Chinese Culture Displayed by Along the River During the Qingming Festival
Title: Along the River During the Qingming Festival
Artist: Zhang Zeduan
Period: Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 A.D.), Northern Song period
Collection: Beijing Palace Museum
I. Introduction:
Did the artist correctly and precisely depicts the culture, economy and the life of Chinese people in Northern Song Dynasty?
a. The city’s location suggested from the commerce activities and development
b. The meaning behind the title being related to the Qingming Festival
c. Women’s status in ancient China
II. Body of the paper:
a. The city’s location suggested from the commerce activities and development
i. Debate on whether it is Kaifeng/ Dongjing or an idealized city
ii. Water transportation systems developed in the Northern Song Dynasty
iii. Busy transportation and commercial traffic, including loading and unloading goods and passengers
b. The meaning behind the title related to the Qingming Festival
i. Debate on whether it suggests the Spring season or the Qingming Festival
ii. The connection to the goods being transported in Spring season
c. Women’s status in ancient China
i. The lack of presence of women in the painting
ii. The activities the women were engaged and performed in the painting
III. Conclusion:
The artist has intention to idealize the painting to depicts wealthy and delighted citizens living in a peaceful, harmonize city but there are a certain degree of truth lying behind the painting that shows the social status of women in ancient China.
IV. Sources:
a. The Mystery of the Qingming Scroll and Its Subject: The Case Against Kaifeng
i. Brought up well-supported arguments against the city to be Kaifeng but an idealized city in the author’s perception
ii. Meaning of the word “Qingming”
iii. Absence of women in the painting that could suggest the women’s status in Chinese society
b. Unraveling the Mystery of the Handscroll ‘Qingming shange tu’
i. Suggested the dating of the painting that would relate to the debate if it is about Qingming festival
ii. Strong evidence that suggests the city is Kaifeng/ Dongjing
iii. Provide explanation of efficiency of grain transport brought opulence to the city and consequently supported the wine culture
c. The Place of “Qingming Shanghe Tu” in the Historical Geography of Song Dynasty Dongjing
i. Provides great background information on the painting “Along the river during the Qingming festival”
ii. Support the painting was a reference on Kaifeng/ Dongjing
iii. Provide excellent resources on the river in the painting and explanation on the canal systems in ancient China
iv. Argue that the author could possibly not be Zhang Zeduan

Bibliography
I. http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~icgzmod/qingming.html
II. Hansen, V. (1996). The Mystery of the Qingming Scroll and Its Subject: The Case Against Kaifeng. Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, No. 26, 183-200. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496052
III. Tsao, H. (2003). Unraveling the Mystery of the Handscroll ‘Qingming shange tu’ Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, No. 33, 155-179. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496111
IV. Johnson, L. (1996). The Place of “Qingming Shanghe Tu” in the Historical Geography of Song Dynasty Dongjing. Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, No. 26, 145-182. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496051