Artist from Zhejiang Creates Masterpiece for World Expo

May 1st， 2010 unveiled the World Expo 2010 Shanghai. On the inaugural day， Chinese state leaders and foreign VIP guests visited the China Pavilion. One of the great eye-catching masterpieces at the pavilion is a traditional Chinese painting scroll entitled “Ancient River Town and Silk Worm Flower Festival”， created by Ma Feida， a native Zhejiang artist. The 1，300-centimeter-long and 31-meter-tall scroll portrays the scenery and life of Huzhou， a prosperous city in northern Zhejiang， during the dynasties of the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911).

The masterpiece depicts the historical architectures in Nanxun， a water town in Huzhou， in one section and the Silk Worm Flower Festival in another section. An ambitious huge artwork inspired by Qingming Festival on the River by Zhang Zeduan of the Song Dynasty， this epic painting by Ma Feida has more than 1，400 people in it， vividly portraying all the colorful activities and entertainments at the festival in great detail. The kaleidoscopic painting also portrays the 24 steps of traditional silk making as well as historical architectures in rural Huzhou and the Taihu Lake nearby.

The amazing pictorial epic was immediately snatched up by the China Pavilion as the centerpiece for its VIP reception hall. The brocade duplications of the masterpiece are now used as state government’s gifts to foreign visitors.

It is the first long scroll ever created in the history of China to depict the country’s ancient silk culture and the memorial ceremony in honor of the god of silk in Hanshan， Huzhou.

Significantly， the masterpiece is closely associated with the world expo. In 1851， the silk product from Huzhou won a gold medal at the first world expo in London. The artistry of the painting is supreme. Experts agree that it can be compared wit Zhang Zeduan’s masterpiece in the Song Dynasty.

The 45-year-old Ma Feida is a graduate from China Academy of Art. Three years， ago， he first visited Huzhou at the invitation of Ling Lanfang， the chairman of Huzhou Silk Road Group. The artist then paid extensive visits to Huzhou and collected materials and studied Huzhou thoroughly. He spent three years creating the huge masterpiece. At the end of 2009， it was chosen as a treasure together with two other masterpieces for the VIP hall of the China Pavilion.□