Page 89 - Jie Rui Tang Kangxi porcelain mar 2018

Fig 1. Famille-Verte Vase, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati,
Ohio. Bequest of Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft.
Courtesy of the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photography by Tony Walsh, Cincinnati, Ohio

The painting on this vase depicts one of the Two years later, Liu Xiu successfully paci! ed own e$ orts and those of a celebrated historic
turning points in the decline of Emperor remaining rebel groups, stabilized the Han leader who uni! ed the population and paved
Wang Mang’s Xin dynasty (9-23 C.E.) and the empire, and ascended the throne as the the way for two further centuries of dynastic
restoration of the Han dynasty. The decisive Guangwu emperor. continuity. The presence of the Goddess of
battle depicted at Kunyang City took place on Immortality at the neck of the vase, echoes the
In the present depiction, Liu Xiu leads the
July 7th, 23 C.E. wish for (dynastic) perpetuity.
pack, charging on horseback with his blade
At Kunyang, Liu Xiu convinced the local rebels, raised to strike the ! nal blow to his nemesis. A famille-verte rouleau vase with this subject
known as Lülin (the Green Forest), to stay Wang Xun, riding a Buddhist lion, attempts matter and a strikingly similar composition
in the city and defend its walls against the a hasty retreat. He and the beasts are in the collection of The Taft Museum in
massive army led by Wang Mang’s deputies enveloped in a speckled green cloud issuing Cincinnati, Ohio is illustrated in David T.
Wang Xun and Wang Yi. As the Xin army laid from a double-gourd carried by a demon. This Johnson, ‘Narrative Themes on Kangxi
siege to Kunyang, Liu Xiu covertly escaped element adds a new dimension to the story, Porcelains in the Taft Museum’, Orientations,
and rallied thousands of sympathetic troops suggesting that mystical forces intervened on August 1993, ! g. 3 ( g. 1). Another rouleau
from neighboring counties. Upon their return, behalf of Liu Xiu to restore rightful rule. vase with this narrative, from the collection
Liu led a small army through Kunyang’s of Dr. Ip Yee, sold in our Hong Kong rooms,
The story of Liu Xiu’s victory at Kunyang may
gates to attack the Xin forces head-on while 19th November 1984, lot 224, and again in
have had particular signi! cance in the Kangxi
the additional Han soldiers ambushed Wang those rooms, 20th May 1986, lot 143. A slightly
period. Following the upheaval of dynastic
Xun’s army from all directions. Liu Xiu killed smaller yen yen vase featuring this episode on
change in the mid-17th century, the Kangxi
Wang Xun in the battle. As the surviving Xin the body and a deity of immortality at the neck
emperor was responsible for solidifying and
troops " ed, a " ash " ood erupted and drowned is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert
legitimizing Qing rule by suppressing rebellions
many. The Xin army was utterly defeated and Museum (acc. no. C.1276-1910).
within the empire and along its borders. This
did not recover from the events at Kunyang.
vase visually presents a parallel between his
KANGXI: THE JIE RUI TANG COLLECTION 87