Tianqu Dquan: An Illustrated Scroll of Old Beijing Scenery

Author: Liu Hongkuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: A folk art scroll titled "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate," praised by the historical expert 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, still feeling as if there was never an end to its beauty, even after its first exhibition in Beijing not long ago. This meticulous ink painting masterpiece, depicting the folk customs and architectural complexes of early 20th-century Beijing, is not only a comprehensive scroll reflecting the central axis of old Beijing in Chinese painting history but also a work in Chinese landscape painting that exceeds 50 meters in length and features over 5,000 figures and more than 100 buildings.
At 64, Beijing painter Liu Hongkuan was admitted to the Beijing Chinese Painting Research Institute during high school and is renowned for his large-scale meticulous paintings. He has been invited to create works such as "Crane Dance in the Sky," "Oriental 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 Library at Harvard University. Five years ago, a sudden inspiration kept Liu Hongkuan up at night. He immersed himself in historical records, rode an old bicycle through streets and alleys, searched for ruins, sketched, and took photos, using his frail body to reconnect with the old Beijing he once lived in. Over five years, he revised the work three times, pouring countless efforts into it.
Liu Hongkuan describes his work as an innovative regional cultural research project. He says the more he painted, the more he realized that to fully capture the grandeur and intricacy of the ancient capital, he must innovate while exploring the cultural essence of traditional Chinese architecture. Only then could he bring to life the "Dragon Vein" of the central axis, which was once celebrated for its imperial majesty. The scroll begins at the Yongding Gate in 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, the bustling Qianmen, the Zhengyang Gate, the three main halls of the Forbidden City, and the Bell and Drum Towers—all symbols of Beijing’s cultural and commercial heritage—are brought back to life in the artist’s emotionally charged brushwork, weaving a harmonious tapestry of social life. Historians call it a scroll that can be rolled into history.
The central focus of the painting is the Taihe, Zhonghe, and Baohe halls of the Forbidden City, adorned with dragon-entwined pillars and golden eaves that gleam under the sun. These are the most challenging and most exquisite parts of the work, as the palace halls, like a heavenly palace, not only dazzle with their majestic imperial grandeur but also convey the millennia of history etched into every ancient wall and brick through the artist’s meticulous strokes.
The 10-meter section from the Wumen Jade Belt Bridge to Jing Shan kept Liu Hongkuan up at night for two years. The challenge lay in the repetition of large-scale architecture and figures, which made the creation more difficult. After careful consideration, he adopted a "one-much, one-few" contrast in depicting figures—emphasizing the many to highlight the few. For example, Qianmen’s Dashilar is so crowded that hundreds of figures, both real and illusory, fill every square foot, while the only traffic police in the entire scroll is at the Drum Tower Street intersection, diligently maintaining order. To avoid monotony, Liu shifted his focus from facial expressions to dynamic actions, portraying each figure’s demeanor and inner thoughts. Whether it’s a procession carrying a coffin, a bridal party riding into the city, a laborer pushing a cart, or a martial artist practicing, even the figures at the corner of the wall, though faceless, exude a sense of leisure, contemplation, or purpose. Even a passerby carefully stepping down from the Zhonghe Hall, lifting one leg and adjusting his robes, seems as if he’s walking through life.
The residential and commercial buildings, with their adjacent rooms and courtyards, are equally lifelike—every door seems inviting, every bench ready for sitting, every teapot ready for pouring, and every counter for business. The more easily overlooked, the more Liu refused to compromise. Many people have forgotten the towering two-meter-long cigarette pipes once standing on Yanjia Xie Street, the public buses that needed pushing up hills, the caravans of Bafeng camels carrying goods, and the "Crime Willow" in Jing’an Gate where the Ming emperor Chongzhen took his own life, all of which are preserved in this scroll.
In a fleeting moment, a blue-curtained carriage at the "Three Gates" appears, with the small donkey pulling it still patiently waiting in its historical spot, its right hind leg habitually shifting. It’s both painted and yet not painted. It’s the past that makes "Old Beijing’s Central Axis Scenery" so 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, making it the "root" of the new Beijing. He wants today’s people to understand what their city once was, how beautiful and mysterious it was. The scroll, from the empty sky and earth before entering the city to the prosperous remnants after dynasties changed, then to the distant mountains and waters beyond the gates, leaves behind a history for people to savor. This philosophical composition reflects Liu’s profound reflections on history and artistic interpretation.
With the masterpiece complete, 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.
Liu Hongkuan’s meticulous painting of "Heavenly Avenue and Crimson Gate" at the Chinese Painting Research Institute is a scroll measuring 53 meters in length and 0.7 meters in height, featuring over 5,000 figures and more than 100 buildings. It depicts the scenery of Beijing’s central axis in the 1930s and 1940s. The scroll begins at the Yongding Gate in 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, the bustling Qianmen, the Zhengyang Gate, the three main halls of the Forbidden City, and the Bell and Drum Towers—all symbols of Beijing’s cultural and commercial heritage—are brought back to life in the artist’s emotionally charged brushwork, weaving a harmonious tapestry of social life. Historians call it a scroll that can be rolled into history.
The album is designed in a folding booklet style, faithfully reflecting the original work’s appearance. The original scroll, 53 meters long and nearly 1 meter high, is hailed as the "20th-Century Qingming Shanghe Tu." The scroll, in the traditional style of Chinese landscape painting, depicts the bustling scenes along the "Dragon Vein" from Yongding Gate to Desheng Gate in the early 20th century.