Page 276 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Fine Chinese Works of Art

fig. 1 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖一 北京故宮博物院藏品

and Book of Rites. Meanwhile, auspicious and inspirational seal texts In the context of ancient poetry and prose, the word chuilu has two
drew from sources such as past imperial adjudications or anecdotes. meanings—one refers to the natural state of dew drops; the other
Emperor Qianlong once made an insightful comment about seal refers to the name of an ancient calligraphic style, chuilushu. The
inscriptions: “The inscriptions on the seals of the son of Heaven word chuilu can be frequently seen in the imperial poems of Emperor
shall be conscientiously selected in order to provide admonishment; Qianlong. For example, “The flowers and branches are all dewy, and
those that are poetic in nature do not carry the same weight and are the birds’ voices sound like the sheng playing. (huazhigaoxia jiechuilu,
more like playthings.” Believing the seals as an embodiment of his niaoyuyouyang sizousheng),” “Where the morning sun shines, dew drops
character, Emperor Qianlong insisted that they be commissioned with fill the tips of the trees. (zhaoyang guangyaochu, chuilu manqiaoshao)”,
a clear intent to spur and motivate himself. He further cited examples “The forest branches are heavy with dew drops after rain, the icy water
belonging to the first category: the jiezhizaide (To abstain in order flows in the mountains in cold spring time (yuguolinzhi chuiluzhong,
to gain) seal of the Kangxi Emperor, the zhaoqianxiti (Be cautious chunhanjianshui daibingchan). The word chuilu is used to describe the
and diligent all day long) seal of the Yongzheng Emperor, and his imaginative and vivid natural state of dew drops on plants or flowers.
own yourizizi (Still diligent every day) seal. This present Chuilu seal On the other hand, in “The chuilushu calligraphic style passed down
obviously does not have such motivational meaning and belongs to from the Tang Dynasty, the bokeshu calligraphic style preserved from
the latter “poetic” category. However, Emperor Qianlong’s choice for Song Dynasty. (tangjiazhidu chuanchuilu, songshiqianqian cunboke),” the
such word is not without reason, as can be glimpsed from his imperial word chuilu refer to calligraphy, referencing the cultural heritage
poems and verses. recorded in writing in days past. From these imperial poems, it is clear

有關的寶璽璽文，多從《論語》、《詩經》、《尚書》、《周易》 一是指一種古代字體的名字，即「垂露書」。而在乾隆皇帝御
、《禮記》等儒家經典中擇取。而一些吉祥勵志的璽文，則或 製詩文中不時出現「垂露」一詞，而且表達的意思也基本上
出自睿裁，或選自古代名人典故。關於御書鈐用寶璽的印文， 與這兩種含義有關。比如「搖風猶未白，垂露似含悲」、「垂
乾隆皇帝有過相當精闢的論述：「夫天子宸章，擇言鐫璽，以 露出群卉，恒春不謝花」、「樹梢垂露水增流」、「蒼杉濕垂
示自警，正也。即偶寓意別裁，然近玩物，不足為訓。」認為皇 露，密竹靄生煙」、「濕蒲垂露複含風，浴浪群鳧出綠叢」、「
帝的印章要充分體現自己的性情和意志，要有感而發，有針 花枝高下皆垂露，鳥語悠揚似奏笙」、「樹木紛垂露，煙雲坌
對性地刻製，從而起到警示自己、鞭策自己的作用。他同時 入楹」、「朝陽光曜處，垂露滿喬梢」、「雨過林枝垂露重，春
還給出了一些可為典則的實例，「如皇祖之‘戒之在得’、皇考 寒澗水帶冰潺」、「滴滴枝垂露，浮浮葉閃金」等，都是用「垂
之‘朝乾夕惕’、朕之‘猶日孜孜’，莫非寓戒慎之意。」而此方 露」一詞描寫各種花卉或植物枝葉間飽含露珠的自然之態，
「垂露」小璽的印文從字面上來看顯然不具有這樣的意義， 形象而生動。而「唐家制度傳垂露，宋氏槧鉛存擘窠」、「御
應屬於「寓意別裁」之列。但選取這樣的文字刻製寶璽對乾 書樓好在，垂露護韋鍼」等則是用「垂露」代指文字，講的是
隆皇帝而言也並非毫無緣由，應該是有其原因的，這可以從 古代用文字記錄下來的文化遺產。從這些御製詩文中，可以
乾隆皇帝的御製詩文作品中窺見端倪。 看出乾隆皇帝對「垂露」一語及其用典是很熟悉的，經常使
用。將其作為御用璽印的印文，刻成小璽鈐用，也就是很自然
按在古代詩文語境中，「垂露」一詞基本有兩種含義，一是指
的事情了。乾隆皇帝在位期間，共刻製了兩方「垂露」小璽，
露珠下滴的自然狀態，如「垂露成幃，張霄成幄」即是此意。
此璽即為其中之一。

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