Page 117 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art November 2018

THE QIANLONG EMPEROR’S QUEST FOR LONGEVITY
The Tale of a Magnificent Twelve-Symbol Dragon Robe
Linda Wrigglesworth

Superbly embroidered in paralleled gold and silver couch placed in pairs at the shoulders, chest and mid-back area;
threads with nine resplendent dragons swirling amidst a the paired dragons, the golden pheasant, the confronted ji
profusion of blossoming chrysanthemums, this magnificent character and the hatchet, representing all things on earth
robe embodies powerful symbolism associated with the figure and the ruler’s ability to make decisions, decorated the chest
of the emperor. Blue-ground robes decorated with the Twelve level, while the sacrificial vessels, the aquatic grass, the grains
Symbols are exceptionally rare and were exclusively worn of millet and the flames, representing the ancestor worship
by the rulers on formal occasions. The superb quality of the and four of the Five Elements, were placed at the mid-calf
embroidery and the painstaking attention to detail, noted in level of the coat.
the overlapping scales of the dragons, the curling foamy tops
of the turbulent waves and the animated faces of the mythical The dense leafy meander enclosing blossoming
animals, suggest that this magnificent robe would have been chrysanthemum is a popular stylistic convention which was
tailored to be worn by the Qianlong emperor (1735-1795). developed during the Yongle period (1403-1424), which
is often encountered on Ming-style porcelain wares of the
Blue-ground Imperial robes were only worn by the emperor Qianlong period. Furthermore, the symbolic connotation
twice a year during the performance of ceremonies aimed conveyed by these flowers indicates that the present robe
at invoking rain and good harvest at the Altar of Heaven. was probably worn by the Qianlong emperor during the
The midnight-blue ground of the coat matched the colour later phases of his reign. Symbolic of longevity in China,
of all paraphernalia which the Huangchao liqi tushi 皇朝禮 chrysanthemums were also associated with a joyful retirement.
器圖式 (‘Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia They were the favourite flowers of Tao Qian, or Tao Yuanming
of the Imperial Court’), edited in 1759, prescribed for use at (365-427), a poet living during a turbulent period in China who
this location (see note 1). If lined with yellow silk, such as the retired in midlife to a small estate to live out his days in rustic
present example, the robes were worn during the summer, obscurity, drinking wine and writing poetry (see note 6). Private
otherwise they would have been lined with fur for winter use. and quiet as his life was, his reputation grew steadily after his
The robes were also individually tailored to fit the wearer death, particularly for his associations with chrysanthemums,
and often the sleeves and the seams of the under arm were which he grew in a small patch by the eastern fence of his
extended, leaving a plain area of silk, to help easy movement retirement estate.
when wearing the garment.
Compare with a blue-ground, gold and silver embroidered
Although Imperial robes decorated with dragons appear to Twelve-Symbol robe, Qianlong, from the Metropolitan
have been worn from at least the 10th century (see note 2), Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Textiles in the
it was only at the turn of the eighteenth century that nine Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Metropolitan Museum
dragon designs were introduced and extended to cover Bulletin, vol.53, no.3, 1995-1996, p.77. Another blue-ground
the entire surface of the garment, symbolising infinity and robe, Qianlong, decorated in gold embroidery but lacking
emphasising a unified view of the universe over which the the Twelve Symbols, is illustrated in Heavens’ Embroidered
emperor held sway (see note 3). The size of the front-facing Cloths: One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong,
dragons was also reduced at this time to equal the dimension 1995, p.218, no.63.
of their side-facing counterpart, so a greater space was
obtained to accommodate further auspicious designs, such A related Imperial gold and silver embroidered blue-ground
as the Eight Treasures, Babao 八寶, and the Eight Buddhist Twelve-Symbol robe, Qianlong, was sold at Christie’s New
Emblems, Bajixiang 八吉祥, which this splendid robe so York, 24 March 2004, lot 36.
vividly represents.

Dragons were empowered with extraordinary powers that
compared with those of the emperors, embodying royalty and 1. M.Medley, The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Parphernalia
dominion, and when clutching the flaming pearl, expressed of the Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1982; see also G.Dickinson and
the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2002, pp.14-30.
the wellbeing of his subjects. 2. J.C.Y.Watt and A.E.Wardwell, When Silk was Gold: Central Asian
and Chinese Textiles, New York, 1997, pp.116-117.
The Twelve Symbols of Imperial Authority further reinforced 3. J.E.Vollmer, ‘Power in the Inner Court of the Qing Dynasty: The
the emperor’s essence over all eloquence, articulation, Emperor’s Clothes,’ Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Natural
forcefulness and vigour. According to the ‘Book of History’, History, series 3, no.15, November 1998, pp.52-53.
Shujing 書經, the legendary Emperor Shun, believed to 4. Su Yu, Evidence on The Meaning of The Luxuriant Dews from the
have ruled during the third millennium BC, referred to these Spring and Autumn Annuals, Beijing, 1910, vols. 6, 7, 8. See also
symbols as suitable decoration for Imperial formal attire (see Qing Gaozong, Veritable Records of the Qing Emperor Qianlong
note 4) and in 1766, the Qianlong emperor restricted the use and Empress Chun, Lunar Tenth Month 1748, Beijing, 1986,
of these motifs to Imperial robes (see note 5). A rigid scheme vol.327.
defined the position of the Twelve Symbols on the robes, so 5. G.Dickinson and L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley,
the sun, moon, stars, and mountain, symbolising the four 1990, pp.75-95.
main ceremonies which the emperor presided throughout 6. S.Nelson, ‘Revisiting the Eastern Fence: Tao Qian’s
the year at the Altars of Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon, were Chrysanthemums’, The Art Bulletin, 2001, vol.83, no.3, pp.437-460.