Page 24 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 Hong Kong

218 Eight trigrams on Jiajing period ceramics are related to Daoism and
A very fine and rare blue and white ‘eight trigrams’ bowl the practice of Inner Alchemy, whereby the Emperor heavily practiced
Jiajing six-character mark and of the period Daoist rituals in obsessive hope of attaining immortality. Ceramic wares
The interior with a central cartouche of two phoenixes chasing one decorated with the eight trigram motifs would have been chosen to
another within a double-circle border, encircled by further four phoenixes complement the Emperor’s Inner Alchemy practices.
in flight amidst wispy ruyi-head cloud scrolls beneath a meandering vine
scroll at the rim, the exterior with a continuous scene of flying cranes Another example of Jiajing period blue and white bowls with the ‘eight
dividing eight trigrams above rockwork, all beautifully painted between trigram and crane motif’ is in the Huaihaitang collection, illustrated in
upward plantain leaves at the foot and ruyi-head scrolls at the rim, the Enlightening Elegance. Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming. The
base with a six-character Imperial kaishu mark within double circles in Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, pp.212-213, 218-219 nos.51
underglaze-blue. and 54. See also another and white bowl dated to the Jiajing period but
22.7cm diam. with dragon and Eight Immortals motif, illustrated in The Fame of Flame.
HK$2,500,000 - 3,000,000 Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, Hong Kong, 2009,
US$320,000 - 390,000 pp.84-85, no.13.

明嘉靖 青花雲鶴八卦鳳紋大碗 青花雙圈「大明嘉靖年製」楷書款

The eight trigrams represent the principles of yin and yang manifested
in the form of open and solid lines. Yin refers to the female and all that
is passive, negative, dark and feminine; where yang refers to the male
and all that is active, positive, light and masculine. The eight trigrams
are positioned according to the Later Heaven arrangement, which can
be found since the Song dynasty on ceramics; this signifies the bringing
forth of information regarding the shifting of the yin and yang, revealing
the Laws of Change in the universe and among the human world.

According to historical documents from the Jingdezhen Imperial kilns
recorded by the Grand Gazetteer of Jiangxi province, jars with ‘eight
trigrams motif’ favoured by Emperor Jiajing were made around the year
1542 during the twenty-first year of the Jiajing reign.

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