Page 138 - The Parry Collection Bonhams London November 2 2021

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

The poem contains numerous literary and Buddhist allusions. 盌圓形撇口，弧壁下斂，底承圈足。底心深刻「大清乾隆年製」六字三
The Manchu Imperial family were followers of the teachings of Tibetan 行篆書款。通體髹漆，外壁於深色回紋錦地上作剔紅雕刻，口沿下與近
Buddhism but much of the terminology used - to fit with Chinese 足處各飾如意云頭一周。腹身外壁雕乾隆御題詠三清茶五言詩，詩云：
poetic practice - relates to Chan Buddhism. Wo Quan was a mythical 「梅花色不妖，佛手香且潔。松實味芳腴，三品殊清絕。烹以折腳
being who lived in the mountains, where he collected herbs for his 鐺，沃之承筐雪。火候辨魚蟹，鼎煙迭生滅。越甌潑仙乳。氈廬適禪
own sustenance. He was particularly fond of pine nuts and was said 悅。五蘊淨大半，可悟不可說。馥馥兜羅遞，活活雲槳澈。偓佺遺可
to have presented some as a gift to the legendary Emperor Yao. Yao, 餐，林逋賞時別。懶舉趙州案，頗笑玉川譎。寒宵聽行漏，古月看懸
however, did not eat them, and so missed out on their long life-giving 玦。軟飽趁幾餘，敲吟興無竭。」
properties. The Qianlong Emperor implies in the poem that, unlike the 後落「乾隆丙寅小春御題」年款，末尾刻「乾」、「隆」篆書圓、
legendary Emperor Yao, he would not have hesitated. 方二朱文鈐印各一枚。

Another reference in the poem is made to ‘the Monk of Zhaozhou’. 《三清茶》詩為乾隆皇帝於乾隆十一年（1746）巡五台山，回程至
This was Congshen (778-897), a Tang dynasty Chan Buddhist monk. 定興遇雪，於氈帳中以雪水烹煮三清茶時所賦，原詩見於《乾隆御製
In Chan Buddhism, a koan is a question, story or statement which 詩初集》卷三十六。詩題後加註：「以雪水沃梅花、松實、佛手，啜
may appear contradictory but after greater meditation upon, can lead 之，名曰三清」；即表明三清茶是由梅花、佛手和松實三味組成，以
to enlightenment. The koan of the Monk of Zhaozhou refers to the 乾淨雪水烹之。詩作完成後，乾隆皇帝即命人加於宮中器物之上，作
following story: when two monks visited Congshen, he asked if they 為專門飲啜三清茶的茶盌。台北國立故宮博物院院藏瓷器品類有青花
had visited this temple before. When the first said yes, Consghen 及礬紅兩種，其製作檔案可見於乾隆十一年（1746）七月《活計檔》；
invited him to drink tea; when the second said no, Congshen also 後所用材質並不限於瓷作，玉制和漆製品皆有傳世，且大小、造型、
invited him to drink tea. When asked by the head monk why he had 裝飾圖案以及款識等都基本一致。。
asked this seemingly pointless question, Congshen also invited him to
drink tea. The reference echoes the Qianlong Emperor’s enlightened
generosity in hosting tea parties with his ministers. 乾隆皇帝喜愛三清茶，不僅因為其色、香、味清絕宜人，還可能因為
「三清」各為清高節操之象徵，且品性特殊，以之淪茶，具有幽香而

Compare with a very similar carved lacquer bowl, with the same poem, 「不致溷茶葉」之效。自乾隆八年始，每年正月初二至初十之間，都擇
日於重華宮舉辦「三清茶宴」，是以新正仍於此慶歲，命子皇帝及廷臣
Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the Qing Court Collection in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Emperor’s Private Paradise: 等依例茶宴聯句。乾隆皇帝還常將三清茶具賞賜與宴大臣，以示恩典。
Treasures from the Forbidden City, New Haven and London, 2011,
no.57. For a similar pair of lacquer bowls also carved with the Qianlong 乾隆皇帝篤信藏傳佛教，但為貼合漢文語境，其《三清茶》一詩中所
Emperor’s poem Sanqing cha (‘Three Purity Tea’), see a pair in the 援引的諸多文學及佛教典故多與禪宗相關。如「偓佺」一詞，典出漢
Tianjin Municipal Art Museum, illustrated in The Complete Series of 劉向《列仙傳》：「偓佺者，槐山採藥父也，好食松實，形體生毛，
Chinese Lacquer Zhongguo qiqi quanji, vol.6, Fuzhou, 1993, pl.211; and 長數寸，兩目更方，能飛行逐走馬。以鬆子遺堯，堯不暇服也。松
see another example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which 者，簡松也。時人受服者，皆至二三百歲焉」。 乾隆皇帝自詡其與傳
is illustrated by H.Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl.93. 說中的堯帝不同，不會拒絕服用可得長壽的松子。

Bowls inscribed with the Sanqing Cha poem were also produced in 又如「趙州案」意指唐代趙州觀音寺高僧從諗禪師（778-897）以茶
porcelain; see a blue and white bowl, Qianlong seal mark and of the 為機鋒語之禪宗公案。《五燈會元》載曰：
period, illustrated in Special exhibition of K’ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and 趙州問僧：「曾到此間麼？」曰「到。」州雲：「喫茶去。」又問一
Ch’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National 僧：「曾到此間麼？」雲：「不曾到。」州雲：「喫茶去。」院主問
Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, no.142; see also an iron-red example, 曰：「為甚麼到也雲喫茶，不曾到也雲喫茶？」州召院主，主應諾，
Qianlong seal mark and of the period, also in the National Palace 州雲：「喫茶去。」
Museum, illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: the Culture, 乾隆皇帝以三清茶宴請廷臣，與從諗禪師以「喫茶去」作為佛門直指
Practice, and Art of Tea, Taipei, 2002, no.129. Two further iron-red 人心的開示相呼應。
bowls, Qianlong seal mark and period, are illustrated in Late Chinese
Imperial Porcelain, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1980, no.1. 北京故宮博物館館藏一例清宮舊藏清乾隆剔紅御題詩三清茶盌，
「大清乾隆年製」篆書款，極似本例，收錄於《The Emperor’s Private
See a single very similar lacquer tea bowl with the same poem, Qianlong Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City》，紐黑文，倫敦，2011
seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 年，編號57。另見天津藝術博物館藏相類三清茶詩成對，收錄於
2 December 2015, lot 3163. See also a similar pair of Imperial inscribed 《中國漆器全集》，卷六，福州，1993年，圖版211；以及倫敦維
cinnabar lacquer tea bowls, Qianlong mark and period, which were sold 多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館館藏一例，收錄於H.Garner著，《Chinese
at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2010, lot 1841. Lacquer》，倫敦，1979年，圖版93。