Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, one of the top ten ancient Chinese paintings, shows the prosperity (繁荣) of Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty. (regard) as "China's Mona Lisa", the national treasure kept in the Palace Museum in Beijing is displayed only every few years.
The 528-centimeter-long work is well-known its reasonable arrangement and perfect composition. With the painting (gradual) unfolded, the first thing to catch the eye is the early spring scenery outside Bianjing: streams, bridges, boats and sprouting (发芽) trees. Some travelers are hurrying on their way in the thin fog, (present) a typical picture of the Qingming Festival.
At the end of the country road (come) the middle part--the Bianhe River, the "Golden Waterway" of Bianjing. Several ships are sailing on the river while some others are docked (停泊) with goods being unloaded, truly shows the advanced shipping industry at that time.
The last part is the crowded and noisy downtown, where (vary) people are going about different kinds of businesses. So incredibly alive does the painting look that it seems as if we could see the people walking by and hear they are talking about.
Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival serves as window to the Song Dynasty, providing very valuable materials for future generations (understand) and study Chinese people's economic and social life over 800 years ago.
