Page 161 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

The seal reading Bazhengmao nian zhi bao [‘Seal of the
Eighty-year-old Man Mindful of the Eight Requirements’]
was created especially for the Qianlong Emperor’s eightieth
birthday. Bazheng refers to the eight main charges of a ruler as
described in the Hongfan [‘Great Plan’] chapter of Shangshu:
food, finances, rituals, housing, education, safety, pilgrimages,
and war. These later became criteria for just rule. Qianlong
personally wrote a record of this seal, ‘At the age of seventy,
I used a line from Du Fu to make a seal reading Guxi tianzi
zhi bao. Soon afterwards I made a seal reading Youri zizi,
expressing my resolve to remain diligent as a ruler. Thanks
to Heaven’s blessings, I have not suffered major injuries
or illnesses. After this birthday I will have lived for another
decade. Thinking to this I have written about the celebrations
of my eightieth birthday and ordered it carved on seals to
complement my various imperial brushes. All this is because
I am mindful of the Eight Requirements in Hongfan.’ ‘The Quli
says that [a man of] eighty years is called mao, meaning ‘old
and impaired in wisdom.’ Now that I have reached the age of
eighty, grateful to Heaven for bestowing me good fortune, I
am healthy and strong in body. I deal with thousands of affairs
in a single day but show no impairment in my mind. I must
continue to motivate myself.’ Therefore he commissioned a
seal reading Ziqiang buxi [‘ceaselessly strive to strengthen
oneself’] as a secondary seal to Baozhengmao nian zhi bao to
express his resolve to conduct himself according to the ‘eight
requirements’ of the ruler and strengthen himself even at old
age.
Xintian zhuren [‘The Master of Faith in Heaven’] was one of
Qianlong’s sobriquets and expresses the notion that ‘one
who follows Heaven prospers, and one who defies Heaven
perishes.’ Created in 1786, this seal was intimately connected
to Qianlong’s pacification of the Dzungar Khanate and Hui
rebels in the northwest frontier. This seal also indicated the
eighty-year-old emperor’s pride in his ‘Ten Great Military
Campaigns.’
The seal reading Bishu shanzhuang [‘Mountain Estate for
Escaping the Heat’] was carved after the middle period of
Qianlong’s reign. Its impression on the present work indicates
that it was once used or kept at the Mountain Estate for
Escaping the Heat in Chengde.
The impressions of the above seals, among the most
important in Qianlong’s late life, on the present kesi scroll
hint at the emperor’s state of mind as he contemplated this
birthday gift during the last stage of his life. At the same time, content and distinctive craftsmanship.
the seal impressions also provide important evidence for
the authentication and dating of the scroll, as well as its past
locations and user.
From time immemorial, longevity was a common wish for
humans. The Hongfan chapter articulates the ‘five blessings’
as longevity, prosperity, health and tranquillity, an inclination
towards the morally good, and living fully one’s allotted years
(i.e. avoiding unnatural death). The fundamental human
yearning for longevity is expressed also in various chapters of
the Classic of Poetry. Qianlong opens his Ningshougong ming
[‘Memorial on the Palace of Tranquil Longevity’] by saying that
‘longevity is foremost among the five blessings.’
For this reason, Qing-dynasty emperors organised major
celebratory activities around birthdays. Of foremost
importance were the emperors’ decade birthdays, including
in particular Kangxi’s sixtieth and Qianlong’s seventieth and
eightieth, all of which were commemorated. Among the Qing
imperial family, Kangxi, Qianlong’s birth mother Empress
Dowager Chongqing, Qianlong, the Jiaqing Emperor, and
Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed multiple major birthday
celebrations. Qianlong alone enjoyed four such events during
his lifetime.
On these occasions, court officials were required to submit
various extravagant tributes to the emperor, and among
them were many kesi works. In the first lunar month of 1790,
Qianlong wrote in running script Bazhengmao nian zhibao
ji. Sometime before his birthday in the eighth lunar month,
officials sent this reproduction of Qianlong’s calligraphy
in kesi as a gift to the emperor. The high official Hu Jitang
commissioned a kesi album reproducing Baodian fushu, a
compilation of impressions of 120 seals made from Shoushan
stone, and a kesi album reproducing a compilation of
auspicious wishes. Prince Yongyan, Heir Apparent and the
future Jiaqing Emperor, also sent his father a kesi tapestry
depicting the Three Star Gods. All this indicates that kesi works
were some of the most significant tributes to the emperor at
the Qing court.
The design of the present kesi scroll, featuring the shou
character amidst auspicious motifs, expresses the
longstanding Chinese preoccupation with longevity. It was
very likely a tribute from a high official to the emperor on
the occasion of his eightieth-birthday celebrations. The
impressions of five of Qianlong’s seals on the work suggest
that the Emperor deeply cherished it for its rich cultural
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