Community Star: Jiang Zhenguo
Community Star: Jiang Zhenguo
Jiang Zhenguo, 89, has been painting all his life. Among his thousands of works depicting community life, perhaps the most celebrated is a 10-meter-long scroll painting of the Zhijiang Road W. Community.
The painting has been dubbed the local version of the national treasure “Qingming Shanghetu,” or “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival,” created by Zhang Zeduan during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).
The old masterpiece depicts the buildings and daily life in the ancient capital of Bianjing, now Kaifeng in northern China’s Henan Province. It features 1,643 figures, from ragged monks to officials on horseback. Jiang’s modern version includes 1,173 figures, 122 cars, 61 venues, two airplanes and six Metro trains.
His painting captures community life in the 1980s and 90s. Among other scenes, his painting shows a young couple hugging at a bus station, elderly people doing morning exercises and people flocking to a cultural center to enjoy a performance. “Wherever I go, I just paint,” Jiang said.
