Along the River During the Qingming Festival

Zhang Zeduan painted the Northern Song capital of Kaifeng on the Qingming (tomb- sweeping) day. The scroll is 5.28 metres long, painted in ink and colour on silk. On it: 814 people (later scholars have counted), 60 animals, 28 boats, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, a huge arched wooden bridge crowded with people arguing, a wine shop with a drunk being helped home, camel caravans, food stalls, moneylenders. It's the earliest surviving painted record of everyday urban life in a Chinese capital. Kaifeng fell to the Jurchen 7 years later. This is what it looked like the year before. Now at Palace Museum, Beijing, Beijing @palacemuseum