What season is depicted in the genre painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty?
In the sparse forest mist, there are several huts, grass bridges, running water, old trees and boats. Two porters are driving five donkeys loaded with charcoal. They are going to town. A willow forest, with faint green branches, makes people feel that although it is chilly in spring, it is already spring back to the earth. In the sedan chair on the road, a woman sat in it. The top of the sedan chair is decorated with willows and flowers, followed by riders and bearers, returning from a walk in the suburbs of Beijing to sweep the grave. The description of the environment and characters points out the specific time and customs of Tomb-Sweeping Day, which opens the curtain for the whole painting.
The first person who was skeptical about the theory of spring scenery was Mr. Kong, a teacher in Kaifeng. In the second issue of Art magazine of 198 1, he published the article "Query on the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", listing eight reasons, and concluded that autumn scenery was painted on the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. First, there is a donkey carrying a 10 basket of charcoal on the right side of the picture. Meng Yuanyuan in the Northern Song Dynasty recorded in Dream of China in Tokyo: Every October in the lunar calendar, Bianjing began to "put charcoal in the heater, put wine in front of it and have a warm party". It is against the life customs of Song people to say that Tomb-Sweeping Day set fire to coals before and after. Father Meng and Zhang Zeduan lived in the same era. Dream of Tokyo is an important material to study the customs of the capital of song dynasty, and the historical events described should be credible. Second, there is a farm fence full of eggplant and other crops. More interestingly, several children are playing and chasing naked. None of this is Tomb-Sweeping Day's business. Third, there are more than a dozen people with fans on the screen, which are fan-shaped and sunshade-shaped. Common sense tells people to use fans in dog days, and few people use fans in early spring. Fourth, straw hats and bamboo hats appear in many places on the screen. "Straw hats and bamboo hats are used to keep out the sun and rain. There is no rain in the picture. It must be used to shade the sun. According to the climate of the capital of song dynasty at that time, Tomb-Sweeping Day seems unnecessary and deserves our suspicion. " 5. There are many wine shops in the picture, and the word "new wine" is written on the wine flag, while "Hua Lu in Tokyo Dream" reads: "Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the shops sold new wine ... drunkenness and fairy brocade, and the city people competed for it (see Mid-Autumn Festival in the book)." In Song Dynasty, Xingu came down to brew mash wine to celebrate the harvest, otherwise there would be no new wine. There is a small tea stall on the screen, and the sign says "Drink in summer". "If the word' Xia' in' Yin Zi under the mouth' is good, it is enough to explain its season." Seven, there are several vendors on the river bank and the bridge, and there are cut watermelons on the table. The early spring in the ancient capital of Bianliang in the Song Dynasty was warm and cold, so there could be no fresh fruit like watermelon. The picture shows a sedan chair with a rider and a servant, and a section of earth grave faces the city. Careful analysis shows that although these people may go to the grave, it is more appropriate to say that they hunt in autumn, because they may go to the grave all year round. As far as flower arrangement is concerned, it can be explained in spring and autumn.