Animated Qingming Scroll Exhibited in Taipei

Guests cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the exhibition of the animated version of ancient painting Riverside Scene at the Qingming Festival, in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, June 30, 2011. The animated version of the Qingming scroll, a highly renowned piece of Chinese painting dating back some 900 years ago, started to be exhibited in Taipei on Thursday. The painting will be projected onto a six-meter-high and 110-meter-wide screen, magnified by 10 times of the scroll's original size. (Xinhua/Li Mingfang)

During centuries of time, the Qingming scroll was collected and kept among numerous private owners, before it eventually returned to public ownership. The painting was a particular favorite of emperor Puyi, who took the Song Dynasty original (24.8 by 528.7 cm) (9¾ in by 17 ft 4 in)[5] with him to Manchukuo. It was later re-purchased in 1945 and kept at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City.

About 20 to 30 variations on this topic by artists of subsequent dynasties were made. Several Ming and Qing versions can be found in public and private collections around the world.[6] Each version follows the overall composition of the original fairly faithfully, however, the details often vary widely. The Song Dynasty original and the Qing version, in the Beijing and Taipei Palace Museums respectively, are regarded as national treasures and are exhibited only for brief periods every few years. For instance, the wait in Beijing to see the painting was three and a half hours.