Deshou Palace Museum was alive with throngs of visitors. It also unusually features some people dressed in ancient costumes, either playing the strings, dancing, or chanting poems. It looks like a live picture in which visitors chance to meet those coming alive from a dynasty a millennium ago. 

“Come and see, guys!” A loud shout first comes, then a small cart loaded with a dazzling array of Song-style specialties, like toys, bamboo devices, and jewelry. The man has also packed himself with small items on the waist, with a petty flower behind his ear. “The Street Peddler” is a masterwork of Su Hanchen, a painter dating back to the Song era, and now we see the peddler alive out of the scroll. 

There is also a panel of music players at Cifu Palace, each wearing a long red robe and a high bun on the head, playing various instruments in the front. Dancers are performing to the rhythm of the music. What a show of the ancient music party!

“This is a dialogue spanning thousands of years,” said Zhong, a tourist. This immersive experience allowed the visitors to grab a better understanding of Song-style painting and the allure of the Song Culture as well.

The series of shows took inspiration from renowned Song-era paintings such as “The Emperor and His Guqin,” “The Songs,” and “The Street Peddler.” Orchestrated dances, melodies, and scenes are offered to reproduce the lives of both the noble and lower classes in those paintings – a soothing way to bring those images into life.