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In the winter of 1950 in NE China, when experts embarked on a task to sort out China’s cultural legacy that had survived the wars in the first half of the twentieth century, no one know there was an unparalleled art treasure would be shocked the world.
When opened an old stale scroll, connoisseur Yang Renkai, was amazed. In front of his eyes was an antique, hazel world.
Ancient Chinese collectors would usually use their seals or leave their mark on the paintings in their collection. What caught Yang’s eye about this particular scroll was the number of seals and marks it had. This indicated it had been in the hands of many collectors as an art treasure. Up to three seals were from the last Qing emperor Puyi (1905-1967), showing he was particularly fond of the scroll. Based on some of the marks, Yang thought that it might be the Qingming Festival by the Riverside, done by Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126) painter Zhang Zeduan.
The discovery caused a commotion. The scroll was transferred to Beijing for further verification, which proved its authenticity. Since then, it has been housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
Ordered done by Emperor Song Huizong of the Song Dynasty，the Qingming Festival by the Riverside is a silk scroll, stretching 528 cm long and 24.8 cm wide. It depicts a panoramic scene of Bianjing, today’s Kaifeng in C. China’s Henan Province, during the Qingming Festival, a festival for mourning the dead.