Great People

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Southeast of the city proper of Kaifeng, there is a lake. People call it “Bao Gong Lake”in honor of an official in the Song dynasty-Bao Gong(“Gong”in Chinese is an honorific title), whose original name is Bao Zheng.A man of integrity andjustice, Bao Gong loved the common people and never yielded to the rich and the privileged when he was in office. He also advised the emperor to be generous and kind to people and to cherish men of talents. So impartial and correct in judging cases was he that Bao Gong was regarded as a god by ordinary people. And many novels were dedicated to his virtues. After the Song dynasty, an Ancestral Hall was constructed north of Kaifeng in memory of this honest and just man, but later the Ha1l was flooded by the overflowing Yellow River. Nowadays, the municipal government of Kaifeng has built on the west bank of the Bao Gong Lake a new Hall where a three meter-high statue of Bao Gong is enshrined and worshipped. On the walls of the Hall are colored paintings telling visitors of his stories.

Portrait of Bao Gong

In the Song dynasty, Confucian teachings and literature were much valued. As a result, in Kaifeng there gathered a great many literary masters who not only produced excellent literary works but were loved and supported by ordinary people for their political feats. Among them are Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan and Su Shi, to name just a few.

Another distinguished man is the royal painter Zhang Zeduan who left many outstanding works but was most renowned for Upper River during Qingming Festival.

With various scenes in Kaifeng as raw materials, the painting which is 24.8 centimeters long and 528 centimeters wide, paints more than 500 people and thus is a lively portrayal of Kaifeng on the day of Qingming. So complete in organization and so vivid in painting, Upper River during Qingming Festival is deemed as a peak of painting at that time. It is not only a rare treasure in the history of art but also an important mirror of Northern Song’s architecture, handicraft industry, commerce and local customs.

Kaifeng depicted in the Upper River during Qingming Festival

In China, nearly everybody knows the stories of the Yang Family in the Song dynasty who are respected for their loyalty and patriotism. Nowadays, within the city proper of Kaifeng there stands the Mansion of the Yang family which is built to display the heroic bearing of the family members on the battlefields.