Page 172 - Deydier UNDERSTANDING CHINESE ARCHAIC BRONZES

of this subject, their work was much less rigorous and accurate than
that of the Song 宋 dynasty antiquarians. Some scholars think that one
reason for this lack of interest and attention to details was the paucity
of suitable bronze vessels to study firsthand, since during the Southern
Song 南宋 dynasty (960 – 1127 A.D.) as well as during the Ming
明 dynasty (1368 – 1644 A.D.) itself, the government carried out, at
various intervals, the melting down of ancient bronze vessels, Buddhist
statues, etc. in order to obtain raw material for the manufacture of
weapons and coins, especially at times when the survival of the central
government of the empire was under serious threat from invading
nomadic groups from the north.
4. Qing 清 studies and the first collectors
During the Qing 清 dynasty (1644 – 1911 A.D.) and especially during
the reign of the great antiquarian, Emperor Qianlong 乾隆 (1736 –
1796) the interest in ancient ritual bronzes was rekindled, creating a
new impetus for the study of them and their inscriptions. It was also
a time when many important private collections were formed and
numerous specialised books and catalogues were published, including
the following:
■ The Xiqing Sijian 西清四鑒, or the “Four Books of Appreciation
and Appraisal of the Xiqing Study” were compiled on the command
of the great antiquarian, connoisseur and collector, Emperor
Qianlong 乾隆 (1736 – 1796), between the years 1749 and 1779 in
an attempt to emulate the Northern Song 北宋 Emperor Huizong’s
徽宗 renowned classic, the Xuan He Bogu Tu 宣和博古圖.
The term xiqing or ‘Western Purity’ in the title of this set of books
was derived from the name of the Study/Private Library located in
the southern part of the Qing Imperial Palace 清宮南書房 where
the books were compiled. The final word in the Chinese title, i.e.
jian 鑒 literally means an ‘appreciation’ 鑒賞 or an ‘appraisal’ 鑒定,
or both together.
In the 4 multi-volumed books that make up the Xiqing Sijian 西清
四鑒, each of the 4074 Shang 商, Zhou 周, etc. up to Tang 唐 period
bronzes in the Qing Imperial Collection was numbered, sketched
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and described in detail, and its measurements, weight, etc. as well
as, in the case of inscribed vessels, a sketch of its inscription and a
translation were provided.
The complete 96-volume Xiqing Sijian 西清四鑒 is composed of
the following books:
■ The Xiqing Gujian 西清古鑒, which consists of 40 volumes in which
were listed among other antiquities, 1,529 bronze vessels from the
Shang 商 to Tang 唐 dynasties conserved in the Imperial Collections
in the Beijing Imperial Palace 北京皇宮. The book was compiled
between 1749 and 1755 A.D. by the scholar, calligrapher and
member of the Hanlin 翰林 or Imperial Academy, Liang Shizheng
梁詩正 (1697 – 1763) and other scholars on Emperor Qianlong’s
乾隆 instructions. Unfortunately, half or more of these pieces are
today considered to be later reproductions, many of them produced
in the Song 宋 dynasty.
■ Almost 38 years later, in 1793, the first sequels to the Xiqing Gujian
西清古鑒, two 20-volume works entitled respectively the Xiqing
Xujian Jiabian 西清續鑒甲篇 and the Xiqing Xujian Yibian 西清
續鑒乙篇 or ‘Sequels A & B to the Xiqing Gujian’ were completed
by the scholar and high government official Wang Jie王杰 (1725 –
1805 A.D.) and others on the command of the Emperor Qianlong
乾隆. In the 20-volume Sequel A, 944 additional unrecorded
bronzes purported to be from the Shang 商 and Zhou 周 to Tang
唐 periods and kept in the Beijing Imperial Palace 北京皇宮 were
recorded, sketched, described, etc. as had been done in the original
Xiqing Gujian 西清古鑒 compiled by Liang Shizheng 梁詩正 some
38 years earlier. In Sequel B, Wang Jie 王杰 and his assistants
recorded, sketched, described, etc. yet another 900 bronzes from
the Imperial Collections, but which were housed in the Mukden
Imperial Palace 盛京(奉天)皇宮/盛京行宮 in present-day Shenyang
瀋陽 in Liaoning 遼寧 province, north-eastern China.
■ The final 16-volume book of the series, which was called the
Ningshou Gujian 寧壽古鑒 and which was compiled at about the
same time as Sequels A and B ,recorded, sketched, described,
etc. a total of 701 purportedly Shang 商, Zhou 周, etc. up to Tang
唐 previously unrecorded bronzes from the Imperial Collections
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