Variation on the Qingming shanghe tu

This intricate late Ming/early Qing Dynasty scroll painting follows a river through a prosperous city filled with workers, tradesmen, and happy citizens. Possibly a representation of an actual cityscape of the Yangtze River region, it might also be an idealization of urban life. Scholars disagree on the meaning of “Qingming,” which might indicate springtime; shanghe tu translates to “going-up-the-river-picture.” This work belongs to a genre of variations on the 11th- or 12th-century Qingming shanghe tu, one of China’s most famous paintings, predating this one by approximately 600 years. The original Qingming scroll, attributed to the artist Zhang Zeduan, is kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing and exhibited only rarely. Over the centuries, many artists created their own versions of the Qingming scroll, updating the setting to their own place and time. Until recently these variations were considered mere duplications; we now understand them to be distinct works with unique and valuable commentary about the societies and time periods from which they come.