On the afternoon of March 23, 2024, the first (total 06) academic lecture series "Mirror of Aesthetic Reading" was held in the second floor lecture hall of the Guanshan Yue Art Museum. The "Mirror of Beauty Reading" series of academic lectures is one of the reader promotion activities planned and launched by the Guan Shan Yue Art Museum Library. Its theme selection aims to establish a correlation between reading and exhibition, in order to provide professional guidance for readers' reading and appreciation activities. Since June last year, our library's "Special Collection Appreciation" has launched an appreciation activity for the "Complete Collection of Song Paintings", a major collection of Chinese painting throughout history. Many readers hope to have the opportunity to listen to experts' in-depth guidance on ancient Chinese painting. At the request of our readers, we have decided to use "Chinese ancient painting that is as timeless as poetry" as the annual theme for "Mirror of Aesthetic Reading" in 2024. In the first episode, Mr. Yu Hui, a researcher at the Palace Museum, was invited to give a lecture. Starting from the interpretation of "Along the River during the Qingming Festival", he led readers to experience the humanistic spirit in Song paintings.

The "Along the River during the Qingming Festival" scroll (collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, hereinafter referred to as the "Qing" scroll) is one of the most well-known ancient Chinese paintings. Painter Zhang Zeduan painted over 810 characters and various life scenes in it, showcasing the vivid, full, and delicate life of the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty. How can the author's humanistic sentiment be reflected in such a famous painting? Mr. Yu Hui said that the humanistic spirit of Song Dynasty society, summarized in the words of Confucius, is "benevolent people love others.". Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty, obtained the new dynasty's political power from the Later Zhou Dynasty through the "Chenqiao Rebellion" as a non bloodshed means, and also monopolized the imperial power with the "cup of wine to release military power". This prompted him to realize the importance of "governing the world with culture" and formed a policy of "emphasizing culture and suppressing military" to govern the country. The emperor advocates the idea of "valuing the people and neglecting the ruler", and works with the people to rest and recuperate. In Song paintings, we can see that society began to pay attention to commercial development and the living conditions of the lower class people. The literati class harbored a compassionate sentiment towards heaven and humanity, and many literati and the people pursued their life value amidst difficulties. The upper middle class has entered a state of refined and refined life. The lives of the lower class people are difficult and optimistic, and the entire society pays attention to the natural ecology.

In Yu Hui's view, the "Qing" volume is a visual version of the social life history of the Song capital, which records the daily lives of various people at that time, revealing the emergence of modern commercial society. Kaifeng was the busiest and largest city in the world at that time. The new and old cities had a total of 8 carriages and 120 square meters, with a population of 100000 households, and a total of 1.37 million troops stationed there. The people have removed the barriers between the streets and opened up the walls to create shops, making it an open metropolis that integrates the neighborhood and the city. Through reading paintings, Mr. Yu Hui shared with readers many vivid details and life forms in the scroll: various signs and lightbox advertisements indicated that night markets had been banned at that time, bringing unprecedented prosperity to commercial activities. In the painting, there are tea houses and restaurants, shipping docks, foot shops, commercial shops, and even newsstands. The characters in Zhang Zeduan's works all have prototypes of life, with plots and stories. A toothy man with long sleeves, a delivery boy, a monk carrying a backpack, and a sorcerer doing divination and calligraphy. Under the surface of prosperity in various industries, the painter focuses on portraying the various aspects of life for the lower class of society: boatmen, porters, repairmen, cartmen, and boatmen who make their homes from ships, and can feel the hardships of their labor. There are people who greet and exchange greetings, as well as those who occasionally cover their faces with a fan and pretend to be missing, so this cloth wrapped fan is still a prop to avoid social awkwardness. Some people are proud of the spring breeze, while others are lonely and disappointed. The warmth and coldness of human relationships and the desolation of the world are all depicted in the painting.

Mr. Yu Hui deconstructed and reconstructed the top view, analyzing that at that time, farmland irrigation, sewage discharge, and dock operation had already reached a high level. The berthing method of transport ships is different from that of passenger ships. The planning and management are very user-friendly, the unloading method is scientific and reasonable, and the interlocking and diversion of waterways are orderly. According to the research of ship design expert Mr. Xi Longfei, the curvature of the ropes on the masts of ships in the "Qing" volume has the level of modern advanced mathematics catenary equations.

Starting from the volume of "Qing", whether it is landscapes or flowers and birds, Song paintings reflect a human consciousness of putting people first. GuoXi's "Early Spring Painting" creates natural mountains and rivers that are "feasible, promising, tourable, and livable"; Cui Bai's "The Painting of Cold Sparrows" portrays the care and concern of cold sparrows through personification techniques; The blind picture of the willow shade group depicts a group of blind people fighting, satirizing the blind political chaos caused by the old and new party struggles. The humanistic care in Song paintings is also reflected in the flourishing of children's themes. Such as Su Hanchen's "Infant Play Picture" axis, the anonymous "Bathing Infant Picture" and "Hundred Children Playing in Spring Picture" of the Southern Song Dynasty, which confirm that the middle school period of the Southern Song Dynasty was the peak period of ancient pediatric development, marked by Liu Fang et al.'s "New Book of Early Childhood" written in the 20th year of Shaoxing (1150), which was the most comprehensive pediatric monograph in the world at that time. Yu Hui said that among many "Infant Play Paintings", there are very few that use weapons as toys. He only found one, which is said to be Chen Zongxun's "Autumn Court Infant Play Paintings" of the Southern Song Dynasty. This also reflects the overall laxity of the Song Dynasty's military readiness from one side. In the state of northern ethnic groups surrounded by wolves, extinction was inevitable. Li Song's "Four Mistakes Picture - Alcoholism Picture" during the Southern Song Dynasty also reflects the image of the fallen state of literati who were addicted to sound and color at that time, while Zhu Rui's "Panche Picture" actually portrays the desolate scene of moving south from the country.

Finally, Mr. Yu Hui conducted a unique analysis of the temporal and spatial structure and artistic characteristics of the "Qing" volume.

Mr. Yu Hui uses the method of "using pictures to prove history" to lead the audience through thousands of years to experience the life picture of the Song Dynasty society. History is fresh and warm. He believes that the humanistic consciousness and the brilliance of human nature reflected in Song paintings are a Chinese style "Renaissance". What she revived was not the artistic achievements of the Han and Tang dynasties, but the use of artistic techniques to once again demonstrate the humanistic ideas that emerged in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It was Confucius' "benevolence in the world" and Mencius' "valuing the people and neglecting the ruler". Song painting is an evergreen tree nurtured by the social soil of the two Song dynasties, which may be the enduring artistic charm of Song painting. In terms of art, the Song Dynasty extensively narrated through the representation of time and space, showcasing the secular and folk life atmosphere, making it the pinnacle of Chinese painting history and standing out among the world's art history.

Teacher Yu Hui has been dedicated to the identification and research of ancient calligraphy and painting for more than 30 years, especially in the study of Song and Yuan painting. His writings are abundant and he has a large readership. On that day, there were no empty seats on site, and it was difficult to find one. The audience was eager to interact with the main speaker, creating a lively atmosphere. The "Mirror of Beauty Reading" series of lectures has always been well received by readers. To ensure good order at the venue, we insist on real name reservation and check-in. The registration port is open for the day and all available slots have been reserved. Many readers have expressed that they have benefited a lot but are still unsatisfied. We look forward to the "Mirror of Beautiful Reading" truly becoming a platform for the connection between reading and painting.