Fifty pieces of elaborate traditional Chinese paintings on Chinese ancients, which present a panorama of the vivid life of those times, were displayed at the Shanghai Museum and Liaoning Museum in an art collection entitled "Faces, Emotions and Fashions: Exhibition of Chinese Masterpieces on Ancient People," from Feb 1 to Mar 16, 2008.

The exhibition has put the fifty pieces into four groups: "flourishing and bustling of millenniums," "fairyland of Buddhism and Taoism," "leisure and elegance of scholars," as well as "fantasy of poetry." What intrigues me most is that visitors can easily acquire a subtly changing world of fashion from theses figure paintings. That is, you can have look at what was happening when the modern soccer, golf and tea party are transported into the discourse of ancient China.

Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival

 

 If you want to first get a bird’s eye view at the ancient life of the Chinese six hundred years ago, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by the painter of Qiu Ying in Ming dynasty is the best choice. This grand scroll, nearly twice as long as the version of Zhang Zeduan in the Song Dynasty, portrays over 2,000 characters in the city of Suzhou during the reign of Ming Dynasty. People here include the ancient courtesans singing or dancing to the melody that another played on a zither, good-looking young maids swinging on the trapezes, diligent officers whole-heartedly keeping business records and a troop of bare-backed ancient soldiers practicing martial arts, etc, however, at the same time a strong touch disclosing the luxurious and pleasurable pursuit of the wealthy and predominant officers can also be felt. Additionally, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival is impressive also for its elaborate description of the diversified buildings in the city: from magnificent buildings to massive officer’s mansions, from the delicate and deep courtyards to different scales of inns and shops, the abundance of the category and vividness of all the buildings has well indicated the booming and growth of commerce and the handicraft industry of Suzhou.

In 2008, a "one world, one dream" stageplay will be shown by the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing, China. We now can get down to the traditional Chinese "Olympics" by putting another two scrolls on display. The "Scene of the Ming Emperor Driving a ball" painted in South Song Dynasty pictures the Xuanzong Emperor and his concubines playing an ancient football game, "cuju "- on horses and driving the ball, we can clearly see the tempo and motion of the game from the mysterious lines in the paintings.

Portrait of Imperial Maidens