Tianqu Dquan: Old Beijing Scenery Scroll: Old Beijing Scenery Scroll

Author: Liu Hongkuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: A folk art scroll titled "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate," praised by the historian Zhu Jianguo of the Palace Museum as "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate." Liu Hongkuan spent five years painting it, and I spent five years admiring it until its first exhibition in Beijing not long ago, when it still seemed endless to behold. This meticulous ink painting, depicting the folk customs and architectural complexes of early 20th-century Beijing, not only became the first long scroll in Chinese painting history to comprehensively portray the central axis of old Beijing but also the longest in Chinese landscape painting, spanning over 50 meters and featuring more than 5,000 figures and over 100 buildings.
At 64, the Beijing painter Liu Hongkuan was admitted to the Beijing Chinese Painting Institute as a high school student and became renowned for his large-scale meticulous paintings. He has been commissioned to create major works such as "Crane Dance in the Sky," "The Eastern Lion," "Tiger Roams the Earth," and "Red Leaves and Peacock" for important venues like the Great Hall of the People, the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Zhongnanhai, Tiananmen, and the Peking University Library in Harvard. Five years ago, an idea struck Liu, and he has since been unable to rest day or night. He immersed himself in historical records, rode an old bicycle through the streets and alleys, searched for remnants of old buildings, sketched, and took photographs to deeply reconnect with the old Beijing he once lived in. Over five years, he revised the work three times, pouring his heart into it.
Liu Hongkuan describes his work as an innovative regional cultural study, saying, "The more I paint, the more I realize that to fully capture the grandeur and intricacy of the ancient capital, I must innovate while exploring the cultural essence of our nation and the art of ancient architecture. Only then can I depict the extraordinary 'Yellow Dragon' atmosphere of the central axis, which was once called the 'dragon vein.'" The scroll begins at the Yongdingmen Gate of the outer city, passes through the Wengcheng, and ends at the northern wall of the inner city. Along the way, landmarks like the Tianqiao opera house, Qianmen market, Zhengyangmen Gate, the Three Great Halls of the Forbidden City, the Bell and Drum Towers, and other iconic signs of Beijing's cultural and commercial life are brought back to life in the artist's emotionally charged brushwork, forming a harmonious and authentic depiction of social life. Historians call it a scroll that can be rolled into history.
The Three Great Halls of the Forbidden City—Taihe, Zhonghe, and Baohe—dominate the center of the painting, adorned with dragon columns and golden eaves, making them the most challenging yet most brilliant part to paint. The Forbidden City halls, as magical as celestial palaces, not only awe viewers with their majestic imperial grandeur but also convey the millennia of time-worn (sageliness) etched into every ancient wall and brick through his meticulous strokes.
The 10-meter section from the Wumen Gate to Jingshan, which took him two years to complete, kept him restless day and night. Since the scroll focuses on architectural clusters and figures, these repetitive elements made the creation more difficult. After careful consideration, Liu adopted a "one-much, one-few" contrast in depicting figures—emphasizing the many to highlight the few. For example, the Qianmen Grand Bazaar is so crowded that hundreds of figures—some clear, some blurred, some indistinct yet palpable—fill every square foot, while the only traffic officer in the entire scroll is one diligently maintaining order on the Drum Tower Street. To avoid monotony, he shifted from focusing on facial expressions to capturing the dynamic actions that reveal each figure's demeanor and inner thoughts. Whether it's a procession carrying a coffin, a bridal procession arriving on horseback, a person carrying goods, or someone practicing martial arts, even the figures at the corner of the wall, though faceless, exude a sense of leisure, contemplation, or purpose. Even a hurried passerby stepping down from the Zhonghe Hall, lifting his robe and lifting one leg, seems as if he is walking through life.
The residential and commercial buildings, with their adjacent rooms and courtyards, are so lifelike that every door seems inviting to push open, every bench to sit on, every teapot to pour from, and every counter to conduct business. The more easily overlooked, the more he refused to slacken. Many (Beijing) residents have forgotten the towering two-meter-long cigarette pipes once standing on Yanjia (Yanjia Slope), the public buses that needed pushing up hills, the flocks of Bactrian camels carrying goods, and the "Crime Willow" in Jingshan where the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, hanged himself, now all preserved in this scroll.
In a flash, the "Three Gates" appear, with donkey carts covered in blue cloth, their small donkeys patiently waiting, right hind legs shifting as if in time with the rhythm of history. It is as if the past is alive, making the scroll incredibly rich and vibrant.
When discussing the creation of the scroll, Liu Hongkuan says his goal was to paint a Beijing with unique historical, cultural, and artistic value, hoping it would become the "root" of the new Beijing, allowing today's residents to understand what their city once was, how beautiful and mysterious it was. The scroll begins with an empty sky and earth before entering the city, then depicts the prosperity left behind through dynastic changes, and ends with mountains and rivers beyond the gates. Only the history embedded within invites endless reflection. This philosophical composition reflects Liu's profound contemplation of history and artistic interpretation.
After completing the masterpiece, he simply inscribed "Xinji Year, Mid-Summer, Hongkuan Painted" in clean calligraphy in the blank space, accompanied by two seals—one red, one white. True to his nature, he lives modestly and pursues art with integrity, seeking only to do his best.
The meticulous ink scroll "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate" by Liu Hongkuan of the Chinese Painting Institute is 53 meters long and 0.7 meters high, featuring over 5,000 figures and more than 100 buildings, depicting the central axis of old Beijing in the 1930s and 1940s. The album is designed in a folding booklet style, faithfully reflecting the original work. The 53-meter-long, nearly 1-meter-tall "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate" is hailed as the "20th-Century 'Along the River During the Qing Festival.'" The scroll, in the traditional landscape painting style, portrays the bustling scenes along the "dragon vein" from Yongdingmen to Deshengmen in the early 20th century.