Page 47 - Multifarious Enamels Chiense Art.pdf

fig. 1 Paddy fields around Jade Spring Hill in the Early 20th Century
ॱˏ ̣ډˠ☸׀ἔᦾ൶㡃㏩ⅲ␸⁲ᓣ⿭

day Hebei), flooding around Beijing was common. In 1724 ἔᦾ൶ঃڈᕍᒶ᥉೛ᦪ۵㑆䢲ঃ˗᥅㇔ᬜԮ
the Yongzheng emperor assigned his brother Prince Yi, ᦜ䢲ᒀॼ㑨͞䢲ἔᦾ൶െᕍᒶຠ἖⻍೫䢲̃
Yunxiang, to be in charge of irrigation and waterworks
ྯ㕹⒯೘ॼ൶ڙঠἔᦾ㡃㏩УཇǙ⨰⯭ᣩǚ䢲
around the capital. Yunxiang diligently mapped out the
waterways and repaired them, while at the same time ̑␴Ǚἔᦾ⻍೫ǚ䢲ᒶἔᦾ൶७ᗆཇ╍ⅲ᰿
created acres of paddy fields to ease the floods. He 「ǐ᪹㦘ᦱⅴຠᕍ૨᡹ॼἔᦾ൶ᘬἁݸ㪫㋡ǐ
employed Southern farmers to teach northerners how to ׍̞༑ᶐໝ㟢䢲㟚୥૯⿊ុУཇἔᦾ൶⻍೫䢲
grow rice in paddy fields, and massively reduced flooding
ᑞ༑ᶐ̣ډˏໝ䢮 䢯ཇᆓ䢲ݬܕ᳦Ǚᯨ
in only a few years. What Qianlong described in his poem
is a testament to Yunxiang’s achievement (fig. 1). ࿘७ǚ䢲ډໝྯᕇܕ᳦Ǚ㤔ᒝ७ǚǐ

Building on the foundation of previous dynasties and the ॏ᳦↿㢗ঃڈ᥅׊ᡸУ䢲ັપਫ਼᥅ᯫ䢲㢪᢫
works of Yunxiang, Qianlong intensified the irrigation
˕ໝ䢲ဘ⿟἖ԫ⎟⼗ᨡ✼ώ̺₫᷌⁲᥅׊̢
works. He drew the water from the Jade Spring and built
two large reservoirs, the Kunming Lake and the Yuyuan فǐ͔⿟⦪ـᘀᦪ㑆䢲Уᦪ㐤⁲䢲㏃⫊ঃᐪ
Lake, to the west of the Forbidden City, in order to provide ڋ㕴䢲㑰⡿オڙᑜ㏏ᤩᐓ٫ᑜ␱ᛢ᥅␸䢲ᐪ
for the city’s daily water usage and to further reduce ໝ̃㟢ᆓ̞ڋ㕴⨑⁲䢲᥅Ჹᫀള䢲ྋᆓ̞ཝ
flooding. The water from Jade Spring Hill had a special
ᔦたˮᆵܥじⅲᥨڙᓣㅿ䢮ॱˏ䢯ǐ
place for Imperial Beijing. Qianlong once commissioned a
silver measuring spoon to weigh water from different parts
of the empire on his many travels. The logic was that, the ॼ㑨Ǐ㕹ǏԬǏᒝۢԫ⎟ᦱ᥅ⅲ਎⍕̃˖䢲
lighter the water, the less impurities it contained and better ᪹̖㡲ᓁᕩ૯⧁᥅׊䢲૯⿊ុ₶ᨪἔᦾバ᥅䢲

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