A Moving Masterpiece: The Song Dynasty as Living Art

清明上河图

When the advert for this exhibition was shown on tv the very first time, my hubby got excited. I was like, "what is that?" Honestly, I have never heard of this painting in my 30 years. I guess it is because we did not learn about China's history in details in school. I only remembered studying about 秦始皇 (Emperor Qin) briefly. I became very interested when I went to surf the website for more details of this historical painting. I was even more intrigued when I realized how the painting was animated to introduce the lives of the people during the Song Dynasty.

Facts and Figures

- two years in the making

- 128x6.5 metres long projection screen

- 12 cinema projectors

- more than 21000 pixels

- 1068 moving characters in the painting

The Song Dynasty was introduced using the five elements : 金 (gold) 木 (wood) 水 (water) 火 (fire) 土 (earth)

火 (fire) : Festivals and Traditions

木 (wood) : Imperial Examination System of the Song Dynasty

土 (earth) : Science and Technology

金 (gold) : Economy and Trade

水 (water) : Cultural Integration

And onto the highlight, the painting! The most creative part, which was also what I like most about this exhibition is the transformation of the painting from day to night. It was really interesting to see the daily lives of the people living in peace and prosperity during the Song Dynasty 900 years ago.

Actual size of the painting, this is the replica. The original is kept at the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The animated painting, shot some scenes in both day and night.

Rural scenary

Ships of ten thousand stones (万石船)

Rainbow bridge (虹桥) - realised that I didn't get a good shot of the night scene
This was found in the middle section of the whole painting. It is a large wooden bridge, shaped like a rainbow. My favourite part.

Crossroad

City Gate Tower

Sun Yang Restaurant (孙羊正店) - A three-storey magnificent building which is popular for drinkers to gather.

Another crossroad inside the city

This is the actual size of the animated painting in the exhibition hall. Actually, I only managed to capture about 50% of the whole painting. (*look out for the Rainbow bridge in above pics)

The ticket price is inclusive of the audio guide. Though I still think that the tickets are a bit too pricey ($21, or $18 if you have passion card), but I think it is really an interesting exhibition if you are the kind that is into historical China. I only managed to take the still pictures but in the exhibition, the people, camels, horses and ships are actually moving. It was really an enjoyable experience. Only 12 days left (closing on 6th Feb)! Catch it if you can!

http://www.amovingmasterpiece.com/index.html