Page 132 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art June 2015 Hong Kong

THE IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE
‘SHUI MU ZHAN QING HUA’ SEAL
Guo Fuxiang
The present extraordinary imperial seal belonging to
the Jiaqing emperor is made of spinach-green jade and
the knob is carved with a dragon crouching on his four
legs amidst cloud scrolls. It is 4.2cm square and 7cm
high, incised with five characters Shui mu zhan qing
hua (‘Tranquil water and luxuriant trees in the garden’).
The carvings on both the seal knob as well as the seal
itself are exceptionally refined and meticulous, fully
demonstrating the high level of craftsmanship. This seal
is recorded in the Jiaqing Baosou, a catalogue of the
Jiaqing emperor’s imperial seals, now preserved in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, and is undoubtedly a genuine
imperial artefact of the Jiaqing period, given its matching into the first type of such conscientious seal grouping.
texture, size, calligraphic style and composition of the
seal with the recorded one.
According to the Jiaqing Baosou, this seal is part of a
set of three, with the other two bearing the inscriptions
of Qinghuige (‘Pavilion of Purity and Sunlight’) and Yun ri Jiaqing emperor’s personal feelings and thoughts during
xiang hui ying (‘Cloud and sun brightening each other’),
confirming that this set of seals was created specifically
to be stored in Qinghuige within the Yuanmingyuan.
The Jiaqing emperor, whose given name is Yongyan,
was the fifth emperor in the Qing dynasty. Prosperity
continued from the Kangxi and Qianlong periods and
through Jiaqing’s 25 years of ruling; yet Jiaqing’s reign
period indicates a critical point in the Qing dynasty,
with the downfall of the nation following his reign.
This suggests a complicated state of affairs for both
the Jiaqing emperor and the nation. Among the Qing
emperors, the Jiaqing emperor owned a relatively
substantial collection of seals, with the qualities and
style of the seals exemplifying the characteristics of
such a transitional period. Despite being crowned at
36, the emperor enjoyed little political power during
the first five years of his reign. Instead, the emperor
emeritus, Qianlong, continued to carry out the ultimate
rulings. Under this particular circumstances, it was
not easy for the Jiaqing emperor to separate himself
from certain formats that were well-established in the
former reign. These formats were maintained during the
Jiaqing period and are distinctly represented in his seals, built on a terrace further to the west of the Le’anhe
especially in the way of grouping the seals.
130 | BONHAMS
During the Qianlong period, numerous seals were
grouped in three, comprising a head seal and two
accompanying seals. Such particular seal groupings can
be further categorised into two sub-types. The first type
bears a pavilion’s name as the head seal and two poetic
phrases on the accompanying seals, explaining the
origin and history of that particular pavilion. The second
type bears three closely related proverbs as inscriptions,
constituting a ‘proverbs seal set’. The Jiaqing emperor
certainly followed suit and created at least seventy sets
of seals of similar format.1 The present imperial
spinach-green jade ‘Shui mu zhan qing hua’ seal falls
There is no doubt that the Jiaqing emperor deliberately
followed his father for his aesthetic merit, as reflected
in the form and craftsmanship of this seal. The seal
inscriptions, on the other hand, reveal more of the
his reign. As mentioned above, the present imperial
seal belongs to a set of three seals where the first
denotes the name of an imperial hall or pavilion. This
combination was favoured by the Qianlong emperor and
was followed by his fifteenth son when he ascended
the throne. In the case of the ‘Shui mu zhan qing hua’
seal, as it belongs to a set of three seals especially made
for use in the Qinghuige within the Yuanmingyuan, it
is necessary to study and take into consideration the
inscriptions carved on the two other seals, which would
have comprised the set, and the historical context of the
place in relation to the Jiaqing emperor himself.
Qinghuige was located in the western part of
Jiuzhouqingyan, an imperial palace complex built north
of the Qianhu Lake within the Yuanmingyuan. Three main
palaces, the Yuanmingyuan Palace, the Fengsanwuci
Palace and the Jiuzhouqingyan Palace stood along
the complex’s main axis, forming the core part of the
Summer Palace. To the east of the main axis was the
Tiandiyijiachun Palace, where the Daoguang emperor
was born, and to the west was the residence of the
Qianlong emperor, the Le’anhe Palace. Qinghuige was
Palace. The palaces within the complex that were
built during the Kangxi period are among the earliest
constructions in the Yuanmingyuan.