Page 89 - Sotheby's Qianlong Calligraphy Oct. 3, 2018

This exceptionally rare plaque, of an impressive size The direct representation of the Chinese lunar calendar in
measuring almost 20 cm in length, subtly illustrates the jade is also found on two sets of white jade zodiac figures,
Qianlong Emperor’s position as the ‘Son of Heaven’. The one held in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and the other in the
Chinese rulers believed they ruled by heavenly mandate and National Palace Museum, Taipei. The twelve anthropomorphic
every element of the present piece serves symbolically to figures were stored inside a box known as wannian jiazi he and
affirm Qianlong as Emperor, from references to the lunar arranged around a central rectangular jade box carved with
system to the dragon at the bottom. In style it is reminiscent the Daoist qian trigram, a symbol of the Qianlong Emperor.
of Han dynasty bi discs and its archaistic flavour, achieved in According to the Archive of the Imperial workshop, a complete
its colour, shape and carving style, is not only in accordance set was made by imperial commission on the 21st day of the
with the Emperor’s taste but also serves to further legitimise 5th month of the 48th year of Qianlong reign (in accordance
his throne. The importance of this piece is indicated by the with 1783), which was placed in Maoqindian (Hall of Merit and
Qianlong yuzhi (‘made to imperial order’) mark on the side. Diligence).
No other related example appears to have been published, Akin to the zodiac figure sets, the present plaque appears to
although according to the Archive of the Qing Imperial portray the Qianlong Emperor as the Son of Heaven; uniformly
Workshop, a white jade wannian jiazi plaque was sent to the established and protected by celestial guardians to bring
court in the 45th year of the Qianlong reign (in accordance prosperity to the empire, as suggested by the central figure
with 1780).
of Yuncai tongzi. This theme of establishment and protection
Carved in low relief on one side are the Ten Heavenly Stems is further suggested by the demon-like figure at the top of the
and incised on the other are the Twelve Earthly Branches plaque which may be a garuda, a guardian figure in Tibetan
(tiangan dizhi). Together these two sets create the Chinese Buddhism. The dragon emerging from waves on the base
system that is used to count the years, months and days, as draws attention to the imperial nature of this piece.
well as the two-hour periods (shi) which divides the twenty- A much smaller white jade plaque, similarly carved with
four-hour day into twelve periods. In this lunar calendar, the Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve Earthly Branches
each year is assigned one of the Twelve Earthly Branches surrounding Yuncai tongzi in the centre, attributed to the Qing
and an animal from the Chinese zodiac. Each unit in a cycle, dynasty, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6th October 2012,
whether it represents a year or minute, is assigned one stem lot 18, from the Yidetang collection.
and one branch. The Ten Stems and Twelve Branches run
concurrently so a whole cycle takes sixty years to complete
and for the Stems and Branches to once again coincide.
Notably, this full cycle is also known as jiazi, as inscribed on
one side of the plaque.

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