Nimble fingers replicate painting masterpiece
Print Edition
A Minhang resident who spent four years on a cross-stitch version of the ancient Chinese painting “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” is now trying to find a way to preserve the work.
Yu Meijuan, owner of a chess room on Hangdong Road, was encouraged by her three sisters to take up cross-stitch. When she heard about fellow embroiderers undertaking stitched replicas of the famous painting, she decided she wanted to have a try.
“Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” is a hand scroll silk painting by Zhang Zeduan, a palace artist in the North Song Dynasty (960-1127). His work, which is 25 centimeters wide and 5.3 meters long, is a detailed depiction of life in the city of Bianliang, which is today’s Kaifeng in Henan Province. The art treasure hangs in the National Palace Museum in Beijing.
A tough act to follow, but Yu was determined to give it her best. Her husband Xu Yacheng helped her with the materials. The threads alone filled two large boxes.
“I picked the right thread for her, and cut the threads to the proper length,” said Xu. “I also did all the housework while she did her stitching.”
She spent up to 16 hours at day on the cross-stitch. Eventually, more than 684 characters, 122 buildings, 124 trees, 96 animals and eight bridges appeared, one by one, on the canvas, which was 22 meters long.
“I had to rush on the last part because my grandson was due to be born,” she said. “But I’m still very satisfied with the way the work turned out.”
Yu said she fears that conditions in her home aren’t optimum for preserving the work and she is seeking advice on that. She doesn’t plan to sell it.
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