There are many works of art that are impressive, but some stand head and shoulders above the rest. The work done by Chinese artist Zheng Chunhui is one of these; he spent four years working on a true masterpiece that would actually end up landing him in the Guinness Book of Records.
There is a very well-known Chinese painting, named Along the River During the Qingming Dynasty; Chunhui actually recreated the scenes of this painting onto a tree that had fallen to the ground. It is more than 40 feet long and 10 feet tall; this is how he has paid homage to the painting that has often been called “China’s Mona Lisa.” This piece of art was recently unveiled at Beijing’s Palace Museum.
The original painting was made by Zhang Zeduan about 1,000 years ago, and it was meant to be a portrayal of the day to day life of his people. The scroll that he used was about 10 inches tall and 17 feet long. It has been reinterpreted multiple times over the centuries to include all sorts of new, previously undiscovered details, while keeping the original theme in mind.
When Chunhui recreated the scenes, he paid a great deal of attention to detail. The carving includes houses, bridges, and roads, as well as more than 500 people encompassing all social classes in China. It is not entirely identical to the original scroll, which had closer to 800 people, but it is a wonderful homage to it.