故宮展出《清明上河圖》 引來遊客"故宮跑"

An hour before the Forbidden City opened to visitors one recent morning, the stone courtyard just south of the ancient imperial palace was abuzz. Within the vermilion walls, the usual mix of uniformed palace workers, tour guides and tourists milled about beneath a pale blue sky. Loudspeakers blared a recording about ticketing policies.

前不久的一個早晨，在故宮開門前一小時，這座古老宮廷南側的一個紅牆石頭庭院裏已經人聲鼎沸。穿制服的故宮工作人員、導遊和遊客們在淡藍色的天空下擠來擠去。揚聲器裏響亮地傳出關於售票規定的錄音。

But at the center of it all was an atypical sight: a phalanx of more than 1,000 people, flanked by palace workers whose job was to keep the ranks in line. Unlike most visitors, this small army had come with only one goal: to see "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," an early 12th-century painted scroll considered so iconic that it is often called "China's Mona Lisa."

不過，人羣中央的情景不同尋常：那是一個由1000多人組成的方陣，方陣兩側是故宮的工作人員，他們的任務是督促人們保持隊形。不像大部分遊客，這一小隊人來這裏只有一個目標：觀看《清明上河圖》。這幅創作於12世紀初的畫軸極具代表性，被稱爲中國的《蒙娜麗莎》。

Since an exhibition celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Palace Museum opened in early September, people have been waiting for up to 10 hours to see this 17-foot-long masterpiece attributed to the painter Zhang Zeduan, an intricate ink-on-silk tableau of life in the Northern Song dynasty capital, Kaifeng. The best-known painting in the museum's vast collection, it has been shown in public only a few times, in Beijing most recently in 2005 for the museum's 80th anniversary.

從9月初故宮博物院開始舉辦這場慶祝成立90週年的展覽時起，人們就等待長達十個小時觀看張擇端的這幅長17英尺（約5.28米）的繪畫傑作。這幅絹本設色畫軸複雜精細，生動描繪了北宋都城開封的生活。它是故宮博物院衆多藏品中最著名的一幅畫，僅公開展示過幾次，最近一次在北京展出是2005年該博物院成立80週年之時。

The fanatical interest in the work coincides with a concerted push by the Chinese government to encourage interest in traditional culture and values, as a way of emphasizing its links to a history that goes back thousands of years.

人們對這件作品產生狂熱興趣之時，正是中國政府部門協力激發人們對傳統文化和價值觀的興趣之際。後者的目的在於突顯中國幾千年的歷史。

And the crowds lining up have been widely covered both in the news media and on social media, particularly after photos began circulating of people frantically racing from the Meridian Gate entrance of the palace toward the exhibition hall. (Chinese news outlets were quick to label the phenomenon the gugong pao, or "Imperial Palace run.")

新聞和社交媒體紛紛報道人們爭相排隊參觀的事，特別是在觀衆從午門狂奔至展廳的照片在網上傳開之後（中國媒體很快稱之爲"故宮跑"）。

"There's been so much hype about this painting, so I decided to come early to check it out myself," said Jacqueline Zhang, 25, who works at a bank in Beijing and came at 5 a.m. to secure a place at the head of the line. She added, "This just shows how easily excited Chinese people can get."

"這幅畫被炒得很熱，所以我決定早點過來，親眼看看，"25歲的傑奎琳·張(Jacqueline Zhang)說。她在北京的一家銀行工作，爲了能排在隊伍前面，她早上5點就來了。她補充說："這表明，中國人多麼容易激動。"

Past exhibitions of the scroll have attracted huge crowds, but the heightened fervor these days comes as the term "wenhua," or culture, and the desire to appear cultured have become increasingly prominent in China.

這幅畫軸過去展覽時也吸引了很多觀衆，但是如今的狂熱是因爲中國人越來越想有文化或者顯得有文化。

"Now that people have money and social status, they want to show other people that they understand culture," said Chen Yimo, an expert in Chinese calligraphy and painting.

"人們有錢有地位了，就想向別人表明自己懂文化，"中國書畫家陳一墨說。

"Chinese people have a lot of respect for the term 'culture.' No matter how much money you have, if you don't have culture, then you're just a tuhao," said Mr. Chen, using a popular term for the crass nouveaux riches.

"中國人十分尊重文化。不管你多有錢，要是沒文化，你就只是個土豪，"陳一墨說。