2．历史人物竞风流
开封城西南部有一个湖，开封人称为包公湖，就是为了纪念宋代开封府的府尹（地方政府行政长官）包公而命名的。包公，名包拯，在任期间，刚正不阿，秉公执法，不逢迎权贵，为平民办了很多好事，还积极向皇帝进谏，劝说皇帝要宽厚待人，爱惜人才。人们传说包公断案如神，在许多小说中都有对包公的称赞。宋代以后，人们为了纪念这位清官，就在当时开封府的北面建了一座包公祠。后来由于黄河水灾，包公祠被洪水淹没。中华人民共和国成立后，开封市政府在包公湖的西岸重新修建了包公祠。包公祠内有包公的塑像，高一丈多，相貌端庄，一脸正气。墙壁上镶嵌着反映包公政绩的彩色壁画。现在，每年都有大量的游客到包公祠，来缅怀和瞻仰这位忠正廉洁的清官。
宋代崇尚儒学，重视文学，所以在开封聚集了许多的文人志士、国家贤才。在宋朝著名的文学家和学者中，许多都曾在开封任职，像欧阳修、范仲淹、苏轼等。他们不仅学问高、文采好，留下了许多流传千古的佳作，而且在任职期间政绩也很突出，受到了人们的拥戴。
张择端是北宋时期的一位宫廷画师，有大量杰出的作品，但最著名的应当是被后人称为“神品”的《清明上河图》，它是一部写实主义的精品，以当时开封城的景象为题材绘制而成。作品纵24.8厘米，横528厘米，图中人物多达500余人，真实再现了当时开封清明时节的盛况。全图结构完整，描绘准确，被传为希世珍品。《清明上河图》将那个时代的绘画艺术推向顶峰，不仅在艺术史上占据着重要的地位，在研究北宋的建筑、手工业、商业、风俗民情等方面都发挥着无可替代的作用。
在中国，杨家将的故事家喻户晓。杨家将忠心报国、世代相传的家风和前仆后继、保卫国家的英勇行为，受到人们的崇敬与爱戴。现在，位于开封市内的天波杨府是人们后来重建的杨业府邸，集中展示了杨家将们骁勇善战的英姿。
2. Great People
Southeast of the city proper of Kaifeng, there is a lake. People call it "Bao Gong Lake" in honor of an official in the Song dynasty-Bao Gong ("Gong" in Chinese is an honorific title), whose original name is Bao Zheng. A man of integrity and justice, Bao Gong loved the common people and never yielded to the rich and the privileged when he was in office. He also advised the emperor to be generous and kind to people and to cherish men of talents. So impartial and correct in judging cases was he that Bao Gong was regarded as a god by ordinary people. And many novels were dedicated to his virtues. After the Song dynasty, an Ancestral Hall was constructed north of Kaifeng in memory of this honest and just man, but later the Hall was flooded by the overflowing Yellow River. Nowadays, the municipal government of Kaifeng has built on the west bank of the Bao Gong Lake a new Hall where a three-meter-high statue of Bao Gong is enshrined and worshipped. On the walls of the Hall are colored paintings telling visitors of his stories.
In the Song dynasty, Confucian teachings and literature were much valued. As a result, in Kaifeng there gathered a great many literary masters who not only produced excellent literary works but were loved and supported by ordinary people for their political feats. Among them are Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan and Su Shi, to name just a few.
Another distinguished man is the royal painter Zhang Zeduan who left many outstanding works but was most renowned for Upper River during Qingming Festival. With various scenes in Kaifeng as raw materials, the painting which is 24.8 centimeters long and 528 centimeters wide, paints more than 500 people and thus is a lively portrayal of Kaifeng on the day of Qingming. So complete in organization and so vivid in painting, Upper River during Qingming Festival is deemed as a peak of painting at that time. It is not only a rare treasure in the history of art but also an important mirror of Northern Song's architecture, handicraft industry, commerce and local customs.
In China, nearly everybody knows the stories of the Yang Family in the Song dynasty who are respected for their loyalty and patriotism. Nowadays, within the city proper of Kaifeng there stands the Mansion of the Yang family which is built to display the heroic bearing of the family members on the battlefields.
