Page 125 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

ProPerty From An ImPortAnt

PrIvAte West CoAst ColleCtIon

Tian Baodai 田寶岱 (1916-2015) and Ye Man 葉曼 (1914-2017), during Tian Baodai’s The father of Tian Baodai 田寶岱 (1916-2015), Tian Shufan 田樹藩 (1885-1966), collector
posting as Consul General, Yokohama, Japan, 1950. Photographer unknown. of Chinese calligraphy, Beijing, 1950s, during the annual blooming of the night-
blooming orchid. Photographer unknown.

he present longpao is from the collection of the descendants of Ye Man (葉曼) (1914-2017), also
known as Liu Shilun (劉世綸), and Tian Baodai (田寶岱) (1916-2015). Ye Man, who was born and
Traised in Beijing and studied at Peking University Law School, also studied Buddhism under
Nan Huaijin (南懷瑾) and Chen Jianmin (陳建民). She later founded Wen Xian Institute (文賢學院), whose
goal was to teach the ‘Three Treasures’ of Chinese culture: Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Ye
Man was an acclaimed scholar and lecturer, and wrote extensively on the subject of Buddhism. Ye
Man married her Peking University (北京大學) and Xinan Lianda (西南聯大) classmate Tian Baodai, who
served in several important diplomatic roles between 1939-2000, including those of Consul General
and Ambassador. Among his many achievements, he was instrumental in securing funding for the ‘10
Major Infrastructure’ (十大建築) development of Taiwan through diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. The
descendants of Ye Man and Tian Baodai have continued the family tradition of reverence for Chinese
history and culture through the acquisition of this exquisite robe in the early 1970’s in California, and
they treasured this robe for decades amongst other pieces in their family collection. It is Christie’s great
pleasure to present this rare and exceptional longpao from the collection of the descendants of Ye Man
and Tian Baodai to a new generation of collectors.

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