Spring Excursion:Identification and Donation

Spring Excursion was the work of Zhan Ziqian， a prominent painter of the Sui Dynasty （581-618） who was skilled in painting landscapes and human figures. The painting depicts the spring excursion of people in the region south of the Yangtze River， at a time when peach and apricot trees are in full bloom. This painting signifies the end of the early， immature stage of Chinese landscape paintings in which“human figures are larger than mountains and water doesn’t seem to be flowing，” and marks the beginning of a new stage where landscape paintings are neat and delicate with heavy green colors. This painting， with an inscription of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty （960-1279） and attributed to Zhan Ziqian， has always been regarded as the only surviving work of the painter， and by far the oldest landscape painting in China. Never has any doubt been expressed openly over the authenticity of this painting. However， since it was bought by the collector Zhang Boju， there have been discussions on whether this painting is the original work of Zhan Ziqian. In 1978， Fu Xinian， an architectural historian， published an article which explored the date of this painting. After studying the style of people’s costumes and buildings in the painting， he concluded that it was likely to be a copy by some court painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. Despite the fact that the authenticity of this ancient painting is not disputed officially， apparently scholars have already taken the conclusion of Fu as a consensus.

Then how should we understand the words “Zhan Ziqian， Spring Excursion” written by Emperor Huizong of Song？ According to Professor Yu Hui from the Palace Museum， ancient people had very different standards for authentic painting and calligraphy from ours. “Generally， what we mean by ‘a(chǎn)uthentic’ or ‘copy’ is whether the work is created by the artist，” Yu explains. “But people of the Tang and Song dynasties tended to treat copies with a clear provenance as ‘a(chǎn)uthentic’.” Thus， the inscription of Emperor Huizong of Song actually could mean that he believed the painting to be a close copy instead of the original of Zhan Ziqian. As to the social landscape which doesn’t match the Sui Dynasty， Yu Hui guessed that perhaps due to the original being damaged， the painter could only make up the details with limited information， which， in turn， led to different architectural and dressing styles.

In 1945， when Japan was defeated and it surrendered， over a thousand pieces of paintings， calligraphy and ancient books fell into the hands of the puppet army. Some of them were destroyed in the process of being looted while others were sold abroad. At that time， antique dealers across the country went to Changchun to save these treasures， among which was the renowned Spring Excursion. It was then said that the painting would be sold to Japan at 800 taels of gold. To prevent this national treasure from being lost abroad， Zhang Boju decided to buy the painting through a friend. At that time， Zhang was hard pressed for money because he had spent most of his fortune in purchasing paintings， calligraphy and ancient books over several years. Therefore， he had to sell a house and his wife’s jewelry to raise enough gold for this.

In 1952， Zhang Boju donated Spring Excursion to the Palace Museum. As it was heavily damaged， the museum started restoring it. The restoration lasted over a year. The back of the painting is now covered with slips of paper used for patching silk， which look like many scars. But when turned around， the splendor of the painting is impressive. Looking at the work， after a millennium of ups and downs， visitors to the special exhibition at the Palace Museum are struck not only by the yellowed silk scroll remaining bright and clean， but also the completeness of every minute detail in the painting.