Promotional materials for the drama Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival Photo: Courtesy of Youku

The roof warped from years of neglect, the copper stove burning charcoal inside the room, the curved umbrella ribs on the street stalls, as well as the blue and white flags fluttering atop the tavern, the prosperous urban life of China's Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) illustrated in the masterpiece painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival has recently been replicated in a period costume mystery drama of the same name.

The drama, which is set to premiere in December, presented a replica of the real-life settings along the banks of Bianliang (today's Kaifeng in Central China's Henan Province), capital of Northern Song Dynasty by faithfully reconstructing the bustling market, the arching wooden bridge and 824 characters depicted in the painting by artist Zhang Zeduan.

As the art director of the drama's production team, Sun Jian and his crew meticulously replicated the main urban area of Bianliang on a 1:1 scale. From street stalls, cargo boats, to hawkers, every detail captures the authentic essence of the residents' daily life at the time. 

In a recent interview, Sun told the Global Times that he has endeavored to authentically portray the lifestyle and aesthetic of the Song Dynasty, using items such as teapots, liquor bottles, and oiled paper umbrellas to make scenes more vibrant and evocative. "I hope that young people will gain an appreciation for traditional Chinese culture through watching the drama."

Given the popularity of domestic period costume dramas, audiences are not only concerned with the fate of the characters, but tend to pay much attention to the traditional culture rendered through the historical elements of the production. 

To meet the audiences' demand, a growing number of costume dramas, such as Shu Brocade Family and Love between Fairy and Devil have recently shed a renewed light on traditional Chinese culture and intangible cultural heritage, which in turn infuse these TV series with historical depth and cultural significance. 

Promotional materials for the drama Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival Photo: Courtesy of Youku

Fantastic scenes

If the job of costume design is to make characters more vivid, then the role of an art director lies in making the scenes in the script more "lifelike," restoring the era's style depicted in the script, and allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the plot and resonate with the characters' fate.

"An art director primarily ensures the visual coherence of a production. Typically, the workflow begins with transforming the script's ideas into a mood board. From there, various scene proposals are generated based on this mood board, culminating in the construction of the actual sets, according to these proposals," Sun noted. 

"Making a movie or TV show is like creating a dream, and my job is to craft the scenes within that dream," he said. 

Majoring in animation during his undergraduate studies, Sun has developed a strong interest in concept design. He has participated in several productions of fantasy and period dramas such as The Yinyang Master, Monster Hunt and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. 

The art production of a traditional drama requires expansive studies on history and Chinese culture. In terms of period costume dramas, the team not only needs to understand the historical context of a certain dynasty but also have a clear notion of the architecture, the folk customs and the behavioral habits of the people at that time, added Sun. 

"Normally, we learn during the creative process and sometimes we find out about details that the public may not be familiar with. It could be a very exquisite cultural relic, a secluded ancient building in a remote mountain village, or a passage recorded in an ancient book. These scenes, objects, or words are filled with the ingenious ideas of the people of that time. Every time I discover something like this, I am particularly driven to integrate them into the production," he said. 

To refine historical details, Sun also communicated with the production's historical experts, aiming to break the distance of the screen and take viewers back to that vibrant era.

Promotional materials for the drama Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival Photo: Courtesy of Sun Jian

 
New splendor

The timeless three-part handscroll, measuring about 528 centimeters in length and now displayed in Beijing's Palace Museum, offered people a panoramic view of the buzzing life of Bianliang, the capital city at its peak in the 12th century. The scroll belongs to the genre of panoramic paintings, which is a traditional Chinese painting technique that primarily depicts architecture, using a straightedge as a tool for drawing.

"The painter strictly adhered to proportional relationships during his creation, providing us with a most accurate historical record. We aimed to replicate the proportions of the figures and scenery depicted in the painting as accurately as possible by capturing the details within the scenes, such as the architectural distortions, roadside stalls, boats, and crooked ancient trees," Sun said. 

A biggest challenge is to strike a balance between the design plans and budget before coming up with the best solution, he added.

The handscroll is not merely an artwork, but a testament to an era. The art team has brought its textual content to life, enabling audiences to witness history unfold on the screen. 

Through meticulous exploration and the integration of technological elements with modern aesthetics, designers have achieved multiple creative transformations and innovative developments, which have revitalized traditional culture and added new splendor for younger viewers to appreciate it from a contemporary perspective.