Page 88 - Christie's Important Chinese Works of Art, May 31 to June 1, 2023 Hong Kong

fig. 4 Collection of the Summer Palace, Beijing fig. 5 Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
圖四 清乾隆 黃玉狻猊 圖五 清乾隆《獸譜》〈狻麑〉
長15 寬7 高8公分 北京故宮博物院藏品
頤和園管理處藏品

made use of a xiezhi which would use its horn to touch the guilty but to be based on specific benevolent animals, including those made in
would leave the innocent untouched, to assist in his judgement. In yellow jades.
the Ming and Qing dynasties, judicial officers wore headgear in the
shape the horn of the still revered xiezhi (xiezhiguan) or wore surcoats Examples of imperial yellow jade mythical animals from the Qing
depicting the xiezhi. court include a suanni (fig. 4) published in Compendium of the Cultural
Relics in the Collection of the Summer Palace: Jade. Its rear-facing
According to the archival record of the Qing court such as Huojidang reclining posture is very similar to the present yellow jade xiezhi,
(Archives of the Imperial Household), on the twentieth day of the but the head of a suanni is hornless. Referencing the Shoupu, it is
fifth month in the twenty-first reign year of the Emperor Qianlong clear that the published animal is indeed the rare and large animal
(1756) ‘... a Han dynasty sweet yellow jade beast of joy... ordered suanni, a lion (fig. 5). In Shoupu, the featured suanni mainly highlights
to be placed in the Baishijian (‘hundred-item’ curio box)’; on the the interaction between an adult and a cub, whereas the published
sixteenth day of the seventh month of the twenty-fifth year (1760), example of the suanni in the ‘Compendium’ is a single adult with highly
Li Yuanliang, senior official of Ministry of War presented a list comparable features to the Shoupu depiction. Another example of a
containing ‘a yellow jade mythical beast (to be placed in Yangxindian yellow jade animal, also in a reclining pose, is in the collection of
‘Hall of Spiritual Cultivation’); on the seventh day of the Eleventh the Beijing Palace Museum (fig. 6). See, also a yellow and russet
Month of the twenty-sixth year (1761), Yinglian, head of Ministry jade carving of a mythical beast dated to the Qianlong period from
of Interior Affairs presented a list containing ‘a yellow jade reclining the Junkunc collection, Sotheby’s New York, 2020, Lot 277. The
lion’ (to be placed in the outer hall of Yangxindian ‘Hall of Spiritual Junkunc hornless animal with elaborated claws looks almost identical
Cultivation’). These records reveal that yellow jade animals were to the baize illustrated in Shoupu. It is noteworthy that the Summer
to be kept in the treasured ‘hundred-item’ curio box, or placed in Palace and Junkunc examples are both 15 cm long, while the Beijing
Yangxindian where the emperor performed administrative duties, Palace Museum example is 9 cm long. As the most illustrious example
studied, and resided, indicating the importance of these fine jade of yellow jade animals of the court of Emperor Qianlong, the present
carvings that reflect the imperial taste. yellow jade xiezhi has a monumental length of 18.1 cm!
Although the proper names of the yellow jade animals were not In summary, Qing court yellow jade carvings depicting larger
specified in the entries in Huojidang just mentioned, an entry was mythical animals include xiezhi, suanni and baize, and they are all
noted in Huojidang for a white jade animal, ‘a pair of white jade illustrated in the first volume of Shoupu. Notwithstanding the scarcity
luduan’, on the fourth month of the eighth year of the reign of of yellow jades, Emperor Qianlong commissioned the production of
Emperor Qianlong (1743). The entry described that luduan ‘has an these benevolent mythical animals which were supposed to appear
ox horn over its nose.’ A jade animal fitting this description is in the as auspicious omens only when an enlightened ruler reigned with
collection of the Taipei Palace Museum (fig. 2). The mythical animal benevolent policies; his intention was likely to have been to showcase
luduan is also featured in Shoupu (fig. 3), which quotes from Furui Zhi a collection of these rare yellow jade auspicious mythical animals
(Treatise on Auspicious Signs) of anthology Songshu (Book of Song) as a reflection of and to celebrate a prosperous state of the Qing
to describe its role and characteristics, ‘Luduan…… the wise king empire under his rule as a virtuous king. The present yellow jade
knows everything from afar from his throne, by reports delivered to xiezhi, vivaciously carved and finely polished, masterfully portrays
him (ensured by the mythical animal)’. Based on this example, it is the vitality of the revered animal and symbolically highlights the
highly probable that the Qianlong court commissioned jade animals glorious times of the Qianlong empire.

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