Along the River During the Qingming Fest...

Chapter 1 The Tranquil East Suburbs: The Donkey Team Carrying Charcoal through the Cold Woods:

　　 This is the front most section of Along the River During the Qingming Festival. It is the beginning of the route that leads us to Bianjing. The donkey team proceeds to the right of the painting, marking the beginning of the scenes from the right and turning to the left. It gives us an incidental sensation of Bianjing that can be found by searching it, augmenting its psychological distance. This kind of suburban landscape is realistic as well as dreamy, as the sublime realm in Song poetry. Those small bridges, running water, and boats symbolize the leisure of immersing in the pastoral landscape.

　　 In the picture, we can see the spring scene clearly. In the spring chill, sprouts are still rare in the gloomy woods. The dark branches are stretching to the sky. The tall trees make people look small. Two footmen pierce this tranquility, with one walking in front, the other behind, herding a donkey team. On their backs, there are bags of charcoal. They go one after the other slowly, trying to pass through this solitary woods promptly.

　　According to the History of Song and The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, written by Meng Yuan-Lao of Song, elm trees and willow trees were planted along river banks and government roads to re-enforce the embankment and make them green. And the twigs at the tips are branches of elm trees. In the ancient times, people did not use fire during the Cold Food Festival. They did not start a fire until the morning of Qingming Festival. Branches used for firewood were the twigs of elm trees. Burning them gave it the name “elm’s fire.” Zhou Bang-Yan, a Song poet, wrote “Pear blossoms and elm wood fire signify the approach of the Cold Food Festival” in his poem. In the picture, the elm trees are not sprouting yet after shedding their leaves in the winter.
　　
　　 The person walking in front and guiding the donkey team is a child wearing hair buns. In the ancient times, children tie up their hair into two buns on both sides of their heads before they reached the age of tying up their hair to demarcate their adulthood. It is a regular hairdo for common children. From his hair style, we can tell that he is a child at the age of eight to twelve or thirteen. He is carrying a whip in his left hand and pulling the first donkey’s head with his right hand. He uses all his power to make the donkey turn. Turning to the right, they can go through a bridge and across a brook to the prosperous Bianjing. At the back of the donkey team, some places are concealed with branches. There is also a man holding a whip, waving it to speed the team up so that the last donkey won’t lag behind.

　　Each of the five donkeys in the team has a different appearance. The first donkey is pushed by a person to turn right. Its movement and footsteps seem to be unnatural. Of course, its head is turning to the left, showing the interference of the external drive. Behaving unwillingly, perhaps it sees the murmuring water in front that hesitates it. The second donkey holds its head up, attracted by the neighing of the first donkey. It lifts its head and looks around hesitatively. The three donkeys behind lower their heads slightly in order. The later donkeys lower their heads more, showing to be fatigued because of the weight of the two bags of charcoal. The last donkey seems dispirited because of the herdsman’s scolding. It cannot help but follow the footsteps of the previous one quietly.

　　By the small bridge in front, there is a small boat without any person in it. It adds much to the tranquility of the scene. The water is running quietly along the brook. The charcoal transportation team is about to cross the bridge, approaching the simple and rustic village in front. Entering the village, there will be different scenes then.

Chapter 1 The Tranquil East Suburbs: The Donkey Team Carrying Charcoal through the Cold Woods:

　　 This is the front most section of Along the River During the Qingming Festival. It is the beginning of the route that leads us to Bianjing. The donkey team proceeds to the right of the painting, marking the beginning of the scenes from the right and turning to the left. It gives us an incidental sensation of Bianjing that can be found by searching it, augmenting its psychological distance. This...

Notes on Publishing—The Fusion of the Classics and Technology

　　Cosmos Classics is developed from Chinese classics to construct a platform on the internet to compile, promote and inherit classics with digital technology. From these classics, it is hoped that modern people can learn from Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist thoughts for our better being. It also records and captures the essence of zither and chess art, calligraphy and painting, poetry and verse, lyrics and music, dance and opera, to display the beauty of these classics. By doing so, the charms of these arts that have been passed down to us for the past five thousand years to empower us, transcend the times and fuse our legacy with modern elements!

　　Since the establishment of the Cosmos Classics, we have been compiling Chinese classics over the past five years. We have published both the electronic version and paper bound version about the Four Books(The Analects of Confucius, The Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Great Learning)and Five Classics(The Book of Poetry, The Book of Document, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals). At the same time, we begin to explore classical arts. Traditional Chinese classics include the Book of Songs collected in ancient times and the representative literature in the past dynasties, such as Tang poetry, Song ci (poetry), Han fu, Yuan qu (drama), calligraphy art, painting and more. Cosmos Classics will release important works and titles in our website in an illustrated manner. It is hoped that by interpreting these Chinese classics and important literary works in the modern language will comfort modern souls. Likewise, ancient arts will be vividly re-awakened in people’ hearts.

　　In recent years, the total working hours of Taiwan’s labor is ranked number four in the world. And people mostly engage in watching television as their major recreational activity. Only a very low percentage of them participate in literary and artistic activities as entertainment. This cannot help but arouse our curiosity in finding out how do modern Chinese people relax their minds and souls and entertain themselves? How did the ancient people relax themselves? What did they do to entertain themselves? How did they spend their free time and festivals by indulging themselves in literary and artistic activities and performances? We intend to find answers from documentary paintings. The most famous Chinese painting in art history Along the River During the Qingming Festival stands out from the others. Therefore, we began to examine and expound on the famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival painted in the North Song Dynasty in a deconstructive manner from a microscopic viewpoint. The entire painting is divided into forty zones that extend gradually from the left of the scroll. From the suburbs of the capital Bian to the downtown area, the route passes through the rural village in the east suburbs, Bian Canal, across the Rainbow Bridge, to the main street of the capital. It depicts the landscapes, customs, and folklore along this route. According to the History of Song and The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, with reference to the historical background of the North Song Dynasty, the imperial court system, social phenomena, people’s daily lives and all walks of life in the marketplace were narrated in the scenes in order so that people can appreciate the most prosperous economic activities and vivid transaction in the markets, diverse entertainment activities and festival celebrations inside and outside of Bianjing in ancient China.

　　 In the beginning, our editors searched for books on Along the River During the Qingming Festival. We searched almost every available source and found that most of the books on Along the River During the Qingming Festival were discussing particular sections of the painting and particularly only the big and obvious objects. Hardly any of them mentioned the minor parts and trivial things. As a result, this book project came to its bottleneck so that we decided to expand the scope of our search in order to find more raw materials as sources for our writing. When we came across the History of Song and The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor, we discovered that most of its contents were closely associated with the entire painting. Therefore, we read through the book thoroughly, obtaining inspirations and plenty of useful references, especially the geographic position of the gate of Bian City and the Rainbow Bridge. Particularly, it provided decisive influence on the interpretation of the theme of Qingming Festival. Regarding the positioning of Along the River During the Qingming Festival – Qingming Festival, we came to a consensus at a very early time. In addition to making references to the seasonal sceneries and the merchandise sold in the market, the custom of hanging willow branches on sedan chairs was clearly delineated. It allowed us to ensure that the time represented in Chang Ze-Duan’s painting was indeed the Qingming Festival. Although The Exploitation of the Works of Nature was written in the Ming Dynasty, it had very detailed explanations on the boats’ structure that was very helpful in understanding the structure of the boats and the division of labor among the boatmen drawn in Along the River During the Qingming Festival. The Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards provided insights into the complicated architectural structure and construction methods in the painting. The editors were very curious about the costumes, hats’ styles and the officials’ uniforms of the seven hundred to eight hundred characters in it. We hoped to explain them clearly. Fortunately, we came across a volume of Song History in a second-hand bookstore. In the book, there was a chapter “On the Carts and Costumes” that gave us hints on how to solve our doubts about the clothing of the common people. In addition, “Song Dynasty XuanHe Memorabilia” collected in the Five Kinds of Romance in Song-Yuan Dynasty added many lively tales to the scenes in the painting. Ouyang Xiu’s Return to a Farmland and Su Dongpo’s Dongpo Zhilin filled up the gaps left vacant because of insufficient historical materials.

　　 The number of characters in this painting is thought to be the highest. It is extremely difficult to capture their behavior and thinking accurately. However, when the writer read The Da Vinci Notebooks, it conveyed the message that the most important thing in the painting sought to express the characters’ inner thoughts through their body gestures. Every painter wants their viewers to know what she or he is painting; therefore, she or he must leave traces in their limb movements, costumes, environment and more to allow viewers to understand what they are doing. Likewise, we believe that as a painter Chang Ze-Duan should have a similar thinking to leave us traces intentionally in the painting to allow us to interpret the emotional expression of characters and events. As to the layout of this book, we have been writing in the past eight months to the final section of it. Suddenly, we have discovered the structure of the painting and the approach to understand Chang’s masterpiece. Therefore, we divided the painting into three major parts: the suburbs, River Bian and the capital. Considering the approximation of the length for a reasonable layout, foci are highlighted in each part, i.e. “willow woods,” “Rainbow Bridge” and “city gate” that constitute a complete structure. Centering on the Rainbow Bridge, the characters on both sides are walking towards the bridge in groups meeting on the bridge. It gives us solid evidence on the interpretation of “shang he” (over the river), i.e. the river city over Rainbow Bridge, not the upper-stream but sailing upstream against the river flow.

　　During the writing process, the editors discussed the contents of this painting every day. As the contents of Along the River During the Qingming Festival are prolific and complicated, and there are different interpretations in different books, the editors communicated and thought very carefully regarding our reading of this work. Sometimes, we pondered upon certain issues for days without coming to a consensus. From time to time, we put aside these points for a while for further thinking and discussions. Although there might be controversies among the editors without coming to any conclusion, such as the gender, age, movement, social customs, historical background of the characters in the painting, we gained insights during the brainstorming processes. Diverse views render the essays multi-dimensional. In order to avoid speculations made with one’s own views resulting in misreading this historic painting, we insisted on entering the work to feel the painter’s life to pinpoint his thinking and feeling.

　　During the editorial process that lasted for ten months, we seemed to be traveling along Bianjing with the painter Chang Ze-Duan. Riding on donkey-backs, we came from the tranquil suburbs covered with mists and went to the pier to take the Wandan Boat to sail across River Bian. Walking over the Rainbow Bridge, we followed the crowds to wander around the market, listen to stories by tale-tellers, talk about fate, watch shows, drink spring tea, sip wine, eat mutton and more. We came to realize that this was how the people in the Song Dynasty spent their Qingming Festival holiday in such leisure manner after worshipping their ancestors and sweeping their graves. Arranged and depicted by the painter intentionally, we were inspired to understand the connotations of this painting from an episode in it. It is the portrayal of the dark side of society in a metaphoric manner by a Confucian painter. It also conveys his worries about the country and his compatriots. He tried to warn the emperor of the North Song Dynasty to reform and uphold the law and battle against corruptions, saving the country from its downfall. Unfortunately, Emperor Hui Zhong of Song Dynasty did not understand its profound meanings. A few years later, the prosperous and lively Bianjing was invaded and conquered by the Jin people. This metropolis of the time was destroyed. How sad it was!

　　Although Along the River During the Qingming Festival is not the only painting that portrays the capital in Chinese history, it is the most complete painting that captures the social norms and characters of Bianjing in art history. From the illustrations, deconstructive interpretations, and plain and simple introduction of this book, readers can have a glimpse of the authentic picture of Bianjing during the North Song Dynasty. Reminiscing the past, Cosmos Classics has edited and released Along the River During the Qingming Festival by Chang Ze-Duan, a North Song Dynasty painter, in electronic book format. It is hoped that the Chinese of this generation can converse with tradition to fuse the ancient with the modern. Reading the classics, we may be inspired to lay down milestones for modern arts. In addition, we are enthusiastic to share them globally to allow international people to immerse themselves in the beauty of Chinese arts.

Editing Department, Cosmos Classics
June 1, 2016

Notes on Publishing—The Fusion of the Classics and Technology

　　Cosmos Classics is developed from Chinese classics to construct a platform on the internet to compile, promote and inherit classics with digital technology. From these classics, it is hoped that modern people can learn from Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist thoughts for our better being. It also records and captures the essence of zither and chess art, calligraphy and painting, poetry and verse, lyrics and music, dance and opera,...

Front cover/1
Notes on Publishing --the Fusion of the Classics and Technology /2
Editor’s Words /10
contents/16
Along the River During the Qingming Festival 40 Picture Clips /20
The Historic Values of Along the River During the Qingming Festival /22
Imperial Painting Academy and PainterChang Ze-Duan in the North Song Dynasty /29
Bianjing City and Inland Water Transportationon Bian River in the North Song Dynasty /35

Volume 1 Suburban Leisure in the Woods /42
Chapter 1 The Tranquil East Suburbs /44
Chapter 2 Shrouded in Mists /48
Chapter 3 New Leaves Sprout /52
Chapter 4 After Tomb Sweeping /58
Chapter 5 The Eternal Myth /63
Chapter 6 Worship with Sincerity /68
Chapter 7 Mansion in the Underworld /72

Volume 2 The Busy Inland Water Transportation along the Canal /80
Chapter 8 InlandW ater-transportation /82
Chapter 9 Customers in Pubs /88
Chapter 10 Sailing Upstream /94
Chapter 11 New Fire on Qingming /100
Chapter 12 Dancing of the Brush and Ink /107
Chapter 13 Rowing the Oars /114
Chapter 14 Wash the Dirt and Hoist the Clean /118
Chapter 15 Parting /122
Chapter 16 Climbing High to Cry Out /127
Chapter 17 The Rainbow Bridge Incident /133
Chapter 18 Hot Sales at the Bridgehead /142
Chapter 19 Coming Across on a Narrow Lane /148
Chapter 20 Ready to Take Off /154
Chapter 21 Wine’s Fragrance /161
Chapter 22 The Best Thirst Quencher /169
Chapter 23 Golden Branches and Jade Leaves /176
Chapter 24 The Fading Bian Rive /183

Volume 3　The Prosperous Bianjing /190
Chapter 25 The Herbs that Heal /192
Chapter 26 The Joy of Tea Tasting /198
Chapter 27 Aristocrats and Officials /203
Chapter 28 Good Fortune or Bad Fortune /209
Chapter 29 Taking a Short Break under Willows’ Shade /216
Chapter 30 The Taste of the West /222
Chapter 31 Kneel to Appeal /230
Chapter 32 The Grand City Gate /239
Chapter 33 Weighing and Calculating /248
Chapter 34 Packed with Customers /255
Chapter 35 Discussing Now and Then /263
Chapter 36 Studying Hard /270
Chapter 37 Blooming Trade /279
Chapter 38 Clear Well Water /286
Chapter 39 Traveling for a Thousand Miles /294
Chapter 40 Excellent Doctor and Superb Prime Minister /303

Conclusion /312
References /320
Along the River During the Qingming Festival Portraits of Characters /324
The Painting /328
Copyright /358

Front cover/1
Notes on Publishing --the Fusion of the Classics and Technology /2
Editor’s Words /10
contents/16
Along the River During the Qingming Festival 40 Picture Clips /20
The Historic Values of Along the River During the Qingming Festival /22
Imperial Painting Academy and PainterChang Ze-Duan in the North Song Dynasty /29
Bianjing City and Inland Water Transportationon Bian River in the North Song Dynasty /35

Volume 1 Suburban Leisure in the Woods /42
Chapter 1 The Tranquil Ea...