Page 133 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art June 2015 Hong Kong

The short distance between the emperor’s personal
residence and the Qinghuige made the latter an
important retreat during the emperor’s visit and
stay in the Summer Palace. Records indicate that a
monumental painting of the Yuanmingyuan’s panoramic
view was hung on the northern wall of Qinghuige during
the Qianlong period.2 It is also known that the Qianlong
emperor was particularly fond of the nine pine trees in
front of the Qinghuige, where he used to be sit beneath
for tea tasting or playing the qin.
The Jiaqing emperor visited Qinghuige for the first
time in 1801, to honour and pray for his father’s great
guidance and tolerance. In a poem titled “Qinghuige”
written during this first visit, the Jiaqing emperor
expressed his hope to follow in his father’s footsteps,
protecting the imperial family’s royal legacy.3 Following
this first visit, the emperor continued to visit Qinghuige Jiaqing emperor decided to merge this poetry with his
year after, becoming increasingly fond of the tranquility
and scenery of Qinghuige, and considered it to be
the pre-eminent summer retreat in the Yuanmingyuan,
evident from the imperial poems written by him during
his later visits.
There is thus a readily interpreted association among
the group of the three seals stored in the Qinghuige. The
present imperial seal ‘Shui mu zhan qing hua’, together
with other side seal ‘Yun ri xiang hui ying’, explicitly
illustrate their relationship with the pavilion, where the as cultural values.
name of the pavilion, Qinghui, forms from the fourth
character of both seals, ‘qing’ and ‘hui’, which is one of 1 Guo Fuxiang, Ming Qing Di Hou Xi Yin, Beijing, 2003, p.169
the most typical way of combinations used on imperial
seals during the Jiaqing period.
The inscription on the seal ‘Shui mu zhan qing hua’
draws inspiration from an Eastern Jin dynasty poem
by Xie Hun, entitled You Xichi (‘Roaming around the
West Pond’). This poem addresses the temporality of
life through describing the surrounding scenery that Xie
and his companions saw from the West Pond, where
he wrote ‘the sunset shimmer while the birds return,
tranquil water and luxuriant trees appear in the garden’,
conveying the brilliance of the sunset’s reflection on the
water.
The inscription on the other accompanying seal ‘Yun
ri xiang hui ying’ was adopted from a Southern and
Northern dynasties poem Deng jiang zhong gu yu (‘On
Climbing the Solitary Island in the River’), composed by
the prominent poet Xie Lingyun. In his poem, Xie wrote
‘cloud and sun brightening each other, sky and water
both freshened and limpid’, displaying the compelling
and marvellous aspect of the landscape he experienced
when he was roaming around the solitary island amidst
the river, at the same time expressing his admiration
on the contrast between the beguiling sky and the
enchanting clouds.
These two couplets match perfectly with the allure
emanating from Qinghuige, and are thus of metaphorical
significance to this Yuanmingyuan pavilion. It is common
that seals interact with literature, explaining why the
seals.
In summary, it is understood that the present seal
was once in imperial use by the Jiaqing emperor
in Qinghuige, and was specifically made for this
Yuanmingyuan pavilion. This type of imperial seal,
although not frequently used by the emperors, was
commonly stored in its relevant hall. Therefore, it is clear
that the exceptional imperial ‘Shui mu zhan qing hua’
seal embodies a significantly historical, aesthetic as well
2 Yu Mingzhong, ed., Qian ding r ixia jiu wen kao, vol.80
3 Yong Yan, Yu zhi shi chu ji, vol.31
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