“A Portrait of the Qianlong Emperor” by the court painter Giuseppe Castiglione Photo: FILE

---

It is hard to miss the contributions of the Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799) when talking about the vast holdings of paintings and calligraphy in the Forbidden City. This emperor felt an intense admiration for the literati tradition. He might have dreamed of being a member of the literati, and this can explain why he made a lot of effort to emulate the literati and their actions, such as writing poetry.

China has been a state of poetry for many ages. However, those that have written the most poems might not be poets, but emperors. The Qianlong Emperor wrote a grand collection of poetry—approximately 48,000 poems—a number equivalent to the amount of poems included in Quan Tangshi (Complete Tang Poems, the largest collection of Tang poetry published in 1706).
Qianlong was also obsessed by calligraphy and paintings. He had a study within the Hall of Mental Cultivation (the living quarters of the Qing Dynasty emperors in the Forbidden City), called Sanxi Tang, or the Hall of Three Treasures. This 4.8-square-meter room is famed far and wide because three calligraphic masterpieces created by the top ancient calligraphers Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi and Wang Xunwere were once stored in this room. Literally translated, sanxi means “three hopes”—a member of the literati hopes to become a virtuous man, a virtuous man hopes to become a sage, and a sage hopes to someday come to understand the workings of Heaven. The basic message of sanxi served as a form of encouragement for the emperor to continue to improve himself. In ancient China, the character for “hope” also represented the word for “rarity” or “valuable.” Hence, sanxi also refers to three treasures. A plaque with the three characters San Xi Tang written by the Qianlong Emperor is still kept in this room.

 

Sources of art collection

Most of the paintings and calligraphic works stored at the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Taipei Palace Museum come from the imperial collections stored during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. These artworks mainly include collections built upon by former emperors, the compositions of court painters and treasures from the outside of the Forbidden City. Some believe that the collections of the former emperors also contain artworks from the Ming court, but this may not be true.

 The Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1912. Between the reigns of the two dynasties, the palace complex was shortly occupied by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng in 1644, who fled from Beijing shortly after proclaiming himself emperor of the Shun Dynasty. Before he left, Li and his troops looted the palaces and destroyed or burnt the treasures that they couldn’t take away. After the ransacking of the Forbidden City, there were not many items of literary or art work created during the Ming Dynasty left behind. What Qianlong inherited mainly came from his own Qing ancestors.
 

The artists who served at the imperial court left a grand collection of paintings and calligraphic works. The Qing court often recruited outstanding artists to paint for the emperor or the palaces. In the Forbidden City, the Imperial Workshops (Zaoban Chu) under the Imperial Household Department (Neiwu Fu) contained a large number of craftsmen, including painters. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, a certain office was set up for the court painters, known as the Office of Wish Fulfillment (Ruyi Guan). Many Western missionaries served as court painters in this royal painting agency, such as Giuseppe Castiglione, Jean Denis Attiret, Jgnatius Sickeltart and Joseph Panzi. They brought Western painting techniques to the court, forming a unique blend of European and Chinese compositional sensibility, technique and themes in their paintings.

 

Paintings from the outside

During Qianlong’s reign, some paintings were obtained from the outside of palace, including tributes or assets confiscated from people who committed offences. The court also purchased paintings from outside.

It is generally accepted that the tribute system in ancient China was built around tribute given by foreign countries, including the tributary states. However, the Qing court received very little tribute from foreign countries. Most of the tribute consisted of gifts received from courtiers. The Qing rulers, particularly Qianlong, granted some courtiers and celebrities a prerogative to give tribute, which was quite an honor for the court officials, because only some of them were allowed to do so, including royal family members, key officials of the central government, leading officials of local governments, officials from the Imperial Household Department in charge of textiles, salt and taxation, retired officials and Yansheng Gong (hereditary title bestowed on Confucius’ descendants).

 

Collection reached its peak

In addition to receiving tribute, the emperor also purchased artworks. “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” was painted by Huang Gongwang (1269–1351), oldest of the group of Chinese painters later known as the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty. This painting was burnt into two pieces in 1650 with its first half subsequently known as “The Remaining Mountain” and the second half known as “The Master Wuyong Scroll.” During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the court housed a supposed part of “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains” called “The Ziming Scroll” (a counterfeit one). However, the Qianlong Emperor proclaimed it as authentic and particularly cherished it. Not only did he often display it in the palace for appreciation, but he also filled the empty spaces within the scroll with his own inscriptions of praise. Later, “The Master Wuyong Scroll,” which had been passed through the hands of several officials, was brought to the Qianlong Emperor. Ironically, the emperor judged the new acquisition as counterfeit and insisted that the imitation he had already possessed was authentic. Despite all this, he bought “The Master Wuyong Scroll” and four other paintings with “2,000 jin” (100 kilograms of silver or gold, as conjectured by scholars).

During the Qing Dynasty, not all the wealth from confiscation went into the nation’s coffers; part of it went into the emperor’s private account. In imperial China, wealth from confiscation was a source of income for the royal family. “When Heshen fell, the Jiaqing Emperor was full” was an old saying that depicts how the incredible fortune amassed by Heshen (an infamous, corrupt official of the Qing Dynasty) swelled the Jiaqing Emperor’s private coffers. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the paintings and calligraphic works acquired through confiscation numbered far more than those acquired from tribute.
 

Once upon a time, when the property of Chengan (a decedent of Mingju, an eminent and powerful official of the Qing Dynasty) was confiscated, the Qianlong Emperor, on a sightseeing tour, couldn’t wait to appreciate the precious artworks confiscated from Chengan’s house. He ordered his underlings to send some excellent paintings and calligraphic works to him for appreciation during his tour. Since the Qianlong Emperor went to any length to collect artworks, the collection of calligraphies and paintings in the imperial palace reached unprecedented heights during his reign.

Qianlong also ordered renowned artists to catalogue the imperial collection of calligraphies and paintings. Under these circumstances, the Precious Collection of the Stone Moat (Shiqu Baoji) and the Pearl Forest of the Secret Hall (Midian Zhulin) were compiled. Whereas the Precious Collection of the Stone Moat listed all the non-religious works of calligraphies and paintings, the Pearl Forest of the Secret Hall catalogued all the religious calligraphies and paintings in the imperial collections. These two catalogues recorded all the calligraphies and paintings of the imperial collection at its peak.

It is said that the imperial collection of calligraphies and paintings stored during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor laid the foundation of the calligraphy and painting collections of both the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Taipei Palace Museum, providing precious material for the study of Chinese culture and art.

 

The article was edited and translated from Jiefang Daily. Zhang Hongwei is the director of the Palace Museum Research Institute.

edited by REN GUANHONG