Page 49 - Sotheby's Qianlong Calligraphy Oct. 3, 2018

AN APPRECIATION OF THE JADE SCREEN
ENGRAVED WITH WANG XIANZHI’S
MID-AUTUMN MANUSCRIPT AND

THIRTEEN LINES OF THE GODDESS OF

THE LUO RIVER

XU LIN

Among Chinese emperors of the past, Hongli, Emperor present. It is truly a world-class treasure. It was originally
Gaozong of the Qing dynasty, was the most passionate about housed in the imperial study. Now it has been moved to the
Chinese art and exerted the most profound influence in Hall of Three Rarities. Imperially inscribed in the 2nd month of
subsequent history. Best known as the Qianlong Emperor, he the bingyin year of the Qianlong year (1746)”. Beneath this are
wrote some forty-thousand poems during his lifetime, many of a round and a square seal reading Qian and Long respectively.
them appreciations of paintings, calligraphic works and jade. On the other side of the screen is an engraving of the surviving
There is no better example of Qianlong’s fusion of literature partial text of Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphic rendition of the Ode
and visual art than the present jade screen engraved with to the Goddess of the Luo River, known as the Thirteen Lines.
Wang Xianzhi’s Mid-Autumn Manuscript and Thirteen Lines of The four edges of the screen are incised with decorative
the Ode to the Luo River.
patterns of guaizi dragons and floral scrolls. The floral scrolls
The screen is carved from Khotan green jade, and its are incised in thin lines, and the guaizi dragons in thicker lines
inscriptions are filled with gold. Bearing inscriptions in the that interweave with the floral scrolls. Since the patterns were
calligraphic style of the Emperor, it is a large piece measuring to be filled with gold powder, the thicker lines of the dragons
30.7 cm in length, 29.6 cm in width, and 1.7 cm in thickness. were further roughened in short strokes to minimise the falling
The green jade features white dots recalling snowflakes on out of the gold powder. The large characters on the front side
cloth, indicating that it contains miscellaneous substances of the screen (the side of the Mid-Autumn Manuscript) were
like tremolite, calcite, zoisite, or pyxoxene. The exact chemical incised in a similar manner. Unfortunately, the current state
constitution can be analysed through Raman spectroscopy. of the screen indicates that this method did not completely
These other substances do not affect the carving and prevent the loss of gold powder, although such loss grants us
aesthetic effect of jade, and are often utilised deliberately by insight into craft techniques of the past.
jade craftsmen as parts of natural compositions.
In engraving style and decorative pattern, this table screen is
There is text inscribed and filled with gold on both sides of firmly traceable to the Qing court. This green jade table screen
the screen. On one side is Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphic work is notable above all because of the fame of the Mid-Autumn
Mid-Autumn Manuscript as presented in Sanxitang fatie Manuscript engraved on it. Also known as Shieryue tie (fig. 1),
(Calligraphic Models of the Hall of Three Rarities), including it is reputedly an authentic brush trace in cursive script by the
even the seal impressions on the original. On the left is an Eastern Jin master calligrapher Wang Xianzhi. In its present
inscription by calligrapher and theorist Zhang Huaiguan form, the work retains only twenty-two characters. It entered
reading shenyun duchao, tianzi duxiu (‘surpassing in spirit the imperial collection during the Qianlong Emperor’s reign.
resonance, unique in natural beauty’) and an impression of The Mid-Autumn Manuscript, Kuaixue shiqing tie (Timely
a square imperial seal incised in seal script with Qianlong Clearing After Snowfall) and Boyuan tie (Boyuan Manuscript)
chenhan (Qianlong’s imperial brush traces). Further left is were together celebrated as Three Rarities by Qianlong, who
Qianlong’s colophon to the Mid-Autumn Festival in running dedicated a special hall on the west side of Yangxin Palace to
1
script: “The brush traces attributed to the Elder Secretariat them (fig. 2). The Mid-Autumn Manuscript later appeared in
Director (i.e. Wang Xianzhi) in the imperial collection are Hong Kong. In 1951, under the auspices of Premier Zhou Enlai,
mostly Tang-dynasty copies done in the outline-and-ink-fill the PRC government bought it for a high price and returned it
method. The only exception is this authentic brush trace of to the Palace Museum.
twenty-two characters. Here the author’s spirit is as if vividly

QIANLONG — SCHOLAR AND CALLIGRAPHER 47