Page 110 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

盛京之東，砥石山麓，有石壘壘，質堅而溫，色綠而瑩，文理燦然， benevolent reconciliation. The transformation of Songhua stones from
握之則潤液欲滴，有取作礪具者，朕見之，以為此良硯材也 knife and arrow sharpeners into grinding stones for ink and writing
encapsulates the shift from military to civil rule. Time and energy could
‘On the slopes of the Dishi Hill to the east of Shengjing [Shenyang], now be spent on creating a distinctive Manchu Court style inkstone.
outcrops of rocks lie in abundance. The stone is strong and warm Using the newly-discovered Songhua stone, in creative combinations
in substance, green and bright in colour, and replete with brilliant of materials and techniques never before associated with inkstone-
patterned veins. When held in the hand it feels as though it is dripping making, and coordinating designs integrating ink-slab and box, the
with a lustrous tonic. Some people make knife or arrow sharpeners out Kangxi Emperor and his artisans achieved what his successor the
of it. Upon inspection, I thought that it would make fine inkstones.’ Yongzheng Emperor later described as the ‘Inner Court work style’ (內
廷工造式樣).
The Emperor then had his craftsmen create several inkstones in
antique shapes for testing. To his delight, he found that they yielded Shortly after the Kangxi Emperor’s discovery of Songhua stone, he
better ink than the Duan stones from Guangdong. The Kangxi Emperor began to present inkstones as gifts to Han Chinese scholars in his
took personal pleasure from these objects, and the new inkstones inner circle. In his New Year audience of 1703, for example, he gave
were boxed in beautifully decorated cases for display on his desk so one Songhua inkstone to each of the sixty Hanlin Academicians
that he could enjoy ‘Intimacy with literature and ink everyday’ (俾日親 assembled in his Southern Study in the Inner Palace. Along with
文墨). Indeed, it is claimed that traces of red ink - the ink reserved for books and calligraphy in the Imperial hand, gifts of inkstones sent an
the Emperor - are found on Songhua inkstones in the Palace Museum; unmistakable message to their Han Chinese recipients: I am one of
see E.Rawski and J.Rawson, China: The Three Emperors, London, you, and indeed Manchu culture can even contribute and complement
2006, p.422, no.136. The account given by the Kangxi Emperor Han scholarship. Although motivated by political savvy, the Kangxi
himself of the discovery of Songhua stone well illustrates his observant Emperor’s respect for Han literati culture was sincere. See D.Ko, The
eyes, inquisitive mind, and fondness for experimentation. Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China,
Seattle and London, 2017, pp.13-15.
The Kangxi Emperor was also quick to understand the political utility
of Songhua inkstones. In concluding his essay, he drew an analogy See a similar Songhua inkstone carved with waves and similar clouds at
between this obscure green stone, scattered on remote hillsides the forehead, surrounding mother-of-pearl inlay in the water pool, with
awaiting discovery, and the ‘concealed and dejected scholars’ who an inscribed poem by the Kangxi Emperor, in the Qing Court Collection,
‘must be hiding in forested mountains or marshes in the realm. illustrated in Scholar’s Paraphernalia: Classics of the Forbidden City,
Repeatedly I have issued edicts to recruit them, enlisting their Beijing, 2009, p.204, no.199. Another Songhua inkstone with the same
services from all directions, with the intention that no talent will be left inscription, Yongzheng seal mark and of the period, also in the Qing
unappreciated in the fields.’ (朕禦極以來，恆念山林藪澤必有隱伏沉淪 Court Collection, is illustrated in Ibid., no.200. Another related Songhua
之士，屢詔徵求，多方甄錄，用期野無遺佚，庶愜愛育人材之意) inkstone with dragon among waves and with mother-of-pearl inlay,
Kangxi, in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated by E.Rawski and
Written after the rebellion of the Three Feudatories (1673-1681) which J.Rawson, China: The Three Emperors, London, 2006, p.226, no.136.
was the last substantive threat to Manchu Qing rule, the Kangxi Another related Songhua inkstone, Kangxi, with the same inscription,
Emperor’s reiteration of his daily intimacy with ‘literature and ink’ but of different form, is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, acc.no.
and appeal to hidden talent in the marshes is a victor’s gesture of Gu-Wen-000262-N000000000.

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