China's Mona Lisa

When China's last emperor, Puyi was forced to leave the Forbidden City in 1924, he took along with him his favourite painting, the one dubbed China's Mona Lisa. While Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an oil painting of a woman's portrait on poplar panel, China's Mona Lisa is an ink and colour on silk handscroll painting depicting 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, 8 sedan chairs, and 170 trees. Naturally one would expect China's Mona Lisa to be bigger in size which is true in the sense that it is very long, 5.25 meters in length but in height, it is just 25.5 centimetres compared to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa which is 77 cm. A river meanders through the entire Chinese painting; so, perhaps it is appropriately named 清明上河圖 Qingming Shanghe Tu Along the River During the Qingming Festival. Nevertheless,the painting does not depict Qingming's ceremonial aspects, such as tomb sweeping and prayers. The painting has two main sections, the countryside and the city and it is said to depict the daily life of people and the landscape of the Northern Song's capital Bianjing which is present-day Kaifeng. Along the River During the Qingming Festival was painted by a Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan who lived from1085 to 1145.