Page 97 - Christie's London Fine Chinese Ceramics Nov. 2019

by writing Ode to Mukden in the classical Chinese fu style. The
ode was originally written in Chinese as Yuzhi Shengjing fu and
was later translated into Manchu as Han-i araha Mukden-i fu (or
fujurun) bithe. The Emperor would have wished to have ritual
accoutrements of the highest quality for use in the ceremonies
conducted during the tour.
Sets of bells were part of a group of musical instruments that
were required by court protocol to play the dignifed music which
formed an important part of signifcant occasions. This music
was divided into two types and played by two sets of musicians.
One was the Zhonghe shaoyue, which was known as the Eight Fig. 1. Imperial gilt-bronze bell Fig. 2. Imperial gilt-bronze bell dated
dated to 1743, sold at Christie’s to 1743, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
Tones, since the sixteen types of musical instrument that took Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1540. 3 June 2015, lot 3119.
part were made from eight diferent materials - metal, stone, silk,
bamboo, gourds, pottery, leather and wood. The Zhonghe shaoyue
musicians and their instruments were usually placed within the preserved in the Forbidden City, Beijing, is illustrated in Daily
area in which the ceremony was taking place. Zhonghe shaoyue Life in the Forbidden City, op. cit., p. 39, pl. 43. Another set of
music could also include singers. The frame from which the sixteen Qianlong bells, decorated with trigrams, is preserved in
bells hung was placed to one side, and a frame from which hung the Confucian Temple, Beijing (illustrated by Bruce Doar in ‘The
sixteen jade bianqing chiming stones was placed on the other. Preservation of Beijing’s Confucian Temple’, Orientations, vol.
The second group of musicians was associated with Danbi dayue 26, July/August 1995, p. 63). It has been noted that in 1741, the
music and they were usually stationed within an appropriate gate. Qianlong Emperor set up a Music Division for court music and
No singers accompanied Danbi dayue musicians. specifed melodies of his choice for the various court functions,
Spectacular bells, like the current example, would have been which prevailed until the early 20th century (see Splendors of
suspended in two tiers of eight, attached to a tall lacquered China’s Forbidden City, op. cit., p. 52). A bell of dragon design,
wooden frame, and were part of the assemblages required on closely related to that of the current bell, also dated to the 8th
certain formal occasions at court. The frame holding the bells year of the Qianlong reign (AD 1743) but of Zhonglü, 6th, tone,
was usually decorated at either end of the top horizontal beam was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1540 (fg.1).
with a dragon, while the vertical poles of the frame stood on Another Qianlong bell with dragon decoration, again dated to
felines. A set of these bells, along with a set of chiming stones, 1743, but of Nanlü, 10th tone, was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong,
is depicted in a court painting of 1754 attributed to Giuseppe 3 June, 2015, lot 3119. Two further comparable dragon-decorated
Castiglione (1688-1766 Lang Shining) entitled, Imperial Banquet bells, dated to 1744, are in the Palace of Fontainebleau, illustrated
in Wanshu Garden, (illustrated by Chuimei Ho and B. Bronson, in Le Musée chinois de I’impératrice Eugénie, Paris, 1994, p. 47 fg.
Splendors of China’s Forbidden City, Chicago, 2004, p. 52, pl. 34. From the illustration, these bells appear to be incised with the
42). The Wanshu Garden was in the imperial palace at Chengde, characters, Nanlü, the 10th tone, and Yingzhong, the 12th tone.
Hebei province, and the banquet depicted in the painting was On the Fontainebleau bells the characters denoting their musical
for the leaders of the Torgut Mongols. Another set of such bells tones are rendered intaglio, as on the current bell, rather than cast
can also be seen on the terrace in front of the Taihe dian (Hall in relief, as on the example sold by Christie’s Hong Kong in 2015.
of Supreme Harmony) in the Forbidden City, Beijing, in a scroll Two diferent versions of the bianzhong bells appear to have been
painting depicting the wedding of the Guangxu Emperor in 1889 cast in 1743. The larger version (height: 27.3 cm.), represented
(illustrated in Daily Life in the Forbidden City, Wan Yi, Wang by the current bell, has particularly crisply cast decoration,
Shuqing and Lu Yanzhen (eds.) Rosemary Scott and Erica Shipley which includes two narrow bands of classic scrolls. Each of
(trans.), Viking, Harmondsworth, England, 1988, pp. 46-7, pl. 61). the inscription plaques stands on a double lotus stand, as well
A similar set of sixteen bells dating to the Qianlong reign and as being framed by clouds, and has a single disc below each

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