Page 76 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

of his valor, virtue, wisdom, and cultivation. The length of the
Now let us consider the use of these posthumous imperial
posthumous title generally depends on the laudatory eulogy seals.
phrases made up of two-characters each. Usually, the initial The texts of posthumous imperial seals were generally
posthumous title for an emperor would be twenty characters
inscribed in both Chinese and Manchu scripts. In practice,
in length while an empress’s title would be twelve characters each deceased emperor or empress would receive three
in length. An empress’s title would generally begin with the
posthumous seals, in silk, sandalwood, and jade. After being
character ‘xiao’ (filialness), followed by two-character eulogy ceremonially announced, the silk seal was burnt at the altar
phrases and her emperor’s temple name. An emperor newly
of the deceased. The sandalwood seal was interred in the
ascended to the throne would then add one or two laudatory mausoleum, whereas the jade seal was placed and dedicated
phrases to the previous emperors and empresses.
at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Not meant for posterity,
There were strict regulations pertaining to the final length silk and sandalwood seals, were relatively simply made,
of these imperial posthumous titles. When the Qianlong whereas jade seals, expected to be preserved and included
Emperor ascended the throne in the thirteenth year of the in the elaborate system of ancestral worship, was finely
Yongzheng reign (1735), he realized that if every emperor designed and crafted from carefully chosen materials, which
added to his predecessors’ posthumous titles, they would required tremendous amounts of labor and time. First, the
become unwieldy and confusing, and thus issued an edict to Palace Workshops (Zaobanchu) under the supervision of the
the effect that such additions were to be done within reason Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu) would produce
and were not required. Even so, by the Jiaqing reign, Nurhaci’s the jade seal block according to specifications and submit
posthumous title was already twenty-four characters long; its dimensions and condition to the Grand Secretariat. The
those of Taizong, Shizu, and Shengzu were each twenty- Hanlin Academy would produce the Manchu seal text, and the
two characters long, and those of all subsequent emperors Grand Secretariat, the Chinese seal text. The Astronomical
were each sixteen characters long. It was then decided that, Bureau (Qintianjian) would then select an auspicious date
following the Qianlong Emperor’s instructions, these would for the execution of the inscription, after which the Hanlin
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not be further lengthened. From this point onwards, the Academy would send its officials to the Grand Secretariat to
meanings, characters and lengths of imperial posthumous verify the Chinese text, and the Grand Secretariat to verify
titles were standardized, and strictly followed by the the Manchu text. When the completed text was verified to
subsequent emperors. be correct by both parties, the seal would then be passed to
OPPOSITE: Imperial Portrait of Ci’an, Qing dynasty © The Palace Museum, Beijing
對頁： 清 慈安皇太后朝服像 © 故宮博物院，北京
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