Page 98 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

BUDDHIST DEVOTION FROM

THE IMPERIAL BRUSH

REGINA KRAHL

the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) was not the first Buddhist Lama, he had himself repeatedly painted in thangka
manchu ruler to actively support tantric Buddhism. format as on incarnation of the Bodhisattva manjushri, from
Connections between the manchu ruling house and the Dalai whose name the word manchu is believed to be derived
Lama predated the manchu conquest of China. once on the (fig. 1). he supported Chinese Buddhist monasteries in
throne, the Qing (1644-1911) emperors eagerly promoted general, but focused personally as well as politically on
good relations to the Lamaist clergy, since support of this tibetan Buddhism. he patronized the construction of many
tibetan-mongolian brand of Buddhism was considered monasteries of the Gelugpa sect, where he personally wrote
politically advantageous, if not imperative, in order to win the lintel inscriptions and foundation tablets. ancient sutras
allegiance of tibetans and mongols. the manchu emperors in his collection – like ancient paintings and calligraphies –
thus made visits to holy sites of Lamaism and invited the were impressed with his seals.
Dalai Lama and other important Buddhist dignitaries to the It was therefore only natural that he would be copying
court in Beijing, they supported Buddhist building projects Buddhist sutras himself, an act considered a meritorious
in and around the imperial palaces, but also in the country at deed, a way to accumulate blessings for one’s ancestors as
large, and initiated Buddhist publishing and printing projects. well as for oneself, and in the case of an emperor, for the
they also collected ancient imperially sponsored sutras, realm of the empire as a whole. his polished calligraphic
and commissioned replacements of lost copies in order to style that he diligently practiced, gave him the tool to
assemble complete canons of Buddhist texts.
produce a superb work of art also from an aesthetic point
even in this already Buddhist-friendly climate, the Qianlong of view. as the inscription at the end of the second volume
emperor’s engagement in Buddhist causes still represented tells us, he worked for nearly a month on the copying of this
an exception. as a true believer and a genuine practitioner of sutra. Lavishly executed prototypes had been produced to
tibetan Buddhism, this patronage was for him far more than imperial order at least since the Yongle reign (1403-1424)
a political necessity. Being considered an incarnate tibetan of the preceding ming dynasty (1368-1644), several of

Fig. 1 the Qianlong emperor as manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. Freer Gallery
of art and arthur m. sackler Gallery, smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.;
purchase—Charles Lang Freer endowment and funds provided by a anonymous donor,
F2000.4
圖一 乾隆皇帝佛裝像唐卡 弗瑞爾美術館與賽克勒美術館，史密森尼學會，華盛頓
Purchase-Charles Lang Freer Endowment and funds provided by an anonymous donor,
F2000.4

96 SOTHEBY’S Important ChInese art