Castiglione and the Yuanrning Yuan Collections Victoria Siu he 300th anniversary of Giuseppe five major complexes and gardens. A all its descendants are in good order. TCastiglione offers a rare opportunity British map of the entire Yuanming Respectfully, we face our ancestors now in to examine the works of art which Yuan (Fig. l), dated 1860, shows that, paradise ...The shrine is full of vast recep- remain as a legacy of East-West in its heyday under the reign of tion halls. Porcelain roof dragons look at cultural convergences during the Qing Emperor Qianlong (r. 1735-95), the each other. The sleeping rooms are deep enough to contain all the phoenix tables dynasty (1 644-1 91 l), particularly those Yuanming Yuan retreat could ac- necessary to serve feasts... Therefore we found in the Yuanming Yuan (Garden commodate the Qing court not only in must come to worship them (the ancestors) of Perfect Clarity, HsBB). The the summer but throughout the year. the fust and fifteenth of each month, and burning and looting of this palace/ Two of these multiple buildings, the all princes must compare among themselves garden complex, also knoHfn as the Audience Hall and the Ancestral who comes fust [to the shrine]. There are Old Summer Palace, by Franco-British Shrine, are shown in a painting (Fig. double services of the gold sacrificial troops under Lord Elgin and General 2), which is number seventeen of a instruments and vessels, and the flutes and de Montauban in 1860 confirmed the set depicting the forty designated lanterns are of white nephrite.' Chinese belief that foreigners were Yuanming Yuan scenic views by court (Translated by the author) barbarians and, at the same time, artists Shen Yuan (act. c. 1745) and enriched the West with many superior Tang Dai (act. 1707-50). The Ancestral One of three summer residences art objects. Shrine was perhaps one of the most erected by the Manchu rulers, the This author's research toward com- spacious of all the numerous Buddhist Yuanming Yuan was situated about pleting a history of the Yuanrning and Daoist shrines in the complex, ten miles northwest of Beijing, south Yuan, which continues the work begun which is indicative of the filial re- of the Great Wall and east of the in the 1930's by her father, has led her sponsibility that the emperor and Western Mountains. The Emperor to become interested in the restoration the Chinese people expressed towards Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) initiated the of these palaces planned by the Com- their ancestors. The immense temple extensive work on the existing palaces mittee for Restoring the Yuanming is depicted among tall trees and and gardens northwest of the capital. Yuan. Discussing a subject as yet hills, with numerous dependent halls, The main palace gate built at that time unaddressed by any publication, the pavilions, arches and bridges, all of was carved with characters written unfinished monograph documents the glazed tiles and painted wood. It is by Kangxi: BsBM Yuanming Yuan. dispersal of many art treasures from noteworthy that these court artists, Later, the entire area was enlarged and the Yuanming Yuan, which are now who collaborated with Castiglione in embellished by the Emperor Qianlong. located in France, England and the the Imperial Academy of Painting, The five sections of the Yuanming United States. This research augments used relatively bright colours in Yuan, from east to west, were the that of Chinese and international the forty scenes, perhaps reflecting Changchun Yuan (Garden of the scholars who hope to recreate the Western influence. Long Spring, SSB), Yuanrning Yuan appearance of the Yuanming Yuan A woodcut (Fig. 3), depicting the proper, Wanshou Shan (Imperial before its destruction. The Committee same shrine, is also number seventeen Longevity Hill, ;$;Sm), Yuquan Shan has encouraged the gathering of data of a set of the forty scenes, but the (Hill of the Jade Fountain, %$m) and for the restoration, resulting in the woodcuts are not servile or exact Xiang Shan (Fragrant Hills, SW;also research and publication of papers on copies of the forty paintings. The called the Hunting Park). An impetus historical and art historical aspects of artists, Sun Hu (act. c. 1745) and for these extensions was the presence the Yuanming Yuan. These projects Shen Yuan, originally published the il- of certain Jesuits at court who were have included the study of Jesuit con- lustrations to accompany poems com- able to enhance the Yuanming Yuan tributions to the Chinese arts as well posed by the emperor. The poem with not only buildings and gardens, as the gathering of data in the West describing the Ancestral Shrine reveals but also paintings and other works of in order to analyze it in the light of the richness of the building and its art. Because only scattered ruins of the recent archaeological and archival contents: European Palaces remain, research research in China. into these dispersed paintings and The Yuanming Yuan was not a The temples in which the imperial ancestors' works of art as well as pictorial single building or a complex of the robes and crowns are kept have an ancient and verbal accounts can help to kind at Versailles, but thousands origin. .. Heaven has blessed our dynasty 'reconstruct' the Yuanming Yuan, magnificently furnished buildings until today. From generation to generation at least in book form. 72 (Fig. 1) Detail of a British map of Yuanming Yuan. 1860 British War Office (Fig. 2, below lefl) Ancestral Shrine By Shen Yuan (act. c. 1745) and Tang Dai (act. 1707-50) Colour on silk Bibliothtque Nationale, Paris (Fig. 3, below righl) Ancestral Shrine By Sun Hu (act. c. 1745) and Shen Yuan (act. c. 1745) Woodblock print Bibliothtque Nationale. Paris astiglione arrived in Beijing to still provoke criticism. On the other as serious, yet unmarked by care, as he C find that Jesuit colleagues had hand, his portraits and paintings of was inaugurated at the age of twenty- already selected his Chinese name, horses, as those in the portrait of one. These two portraits studied side Lang Shining B#!%. In retrospect, Qianlong (Fig. 4), are recognized as by side illustrate the changes which rarely has a Chinese name, meaning masterpieces. The artist used very light may have prompted the Emperor to 'most gentle in nature and of great shadowing on the face because of the write in a poem that as a white- virtue', reflected the personality of Chinese dislike for shadows, but he haired old man, he could barely its bearer so accurately. was able to capture the inner vitality recognize himself in the youthful For an artist as accomplished as of Qianlong in the act of performing portrait. (See Zhu Jiajin's article in this Castiglione, he faced the difficulty an official duty with great dignity. Any issue 'Castiglione's Tieluo Paintings', of being obliged to paint under the artist prevented from expressing his pp. 80-83.) The Emperor looked at this direct supervision of the emperor, and personality through his preferred work only three times in his life- the Emperor Qianlong in particular style and media would appreciate the when the painting was finished, on thought nothing of dictating changes, severity of Castiglione's trial. But far his seventieth birthday and on the such as moving the position of a bird from letting this be a deterrant, Cas- occasion of his abdication - so this in a painting. For the most part, the tiglione diligently developed an ability reference to his youth, captured so well European also had to give up painting to adapt European pictorial techniques by the artist, is deeply poignant. in oils, which Qianlong, unlike his to Chinese media. A touching friendship between grandfather Kangxi, disliked. Also, he Compare a portrait of the mature Qianlong and Castiglione survived had to cultivate the calligraphic brush Qianlong (Fig. 5) with one he executed throughout the Jesuit's life. The style which eventually earned him twenty years earlier (Fig. 4) which was emperor trusted him with the delicate recognition from fellow court painters, originally displayed in the Yuanming task of depicting his empress (Fig. 5) although his flower and bird pictures Yuan. The artist depicts the Emperor as well as the young emperor's eleven (Fig. 4, right) Detail of Kazakhs Presenling Horses in Tribule By Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) Painting on paper Height 45 cm, width 247 cm MusCe Guimet, Paris (Fig. 5, below) Detail of Inauguration Porlrail of Emperor Qianlong By Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) Ink and colour on silk Height 52.9 cm, length 688.3 cm The Cleveland Museum of Art consorts. The inscription carved on the box for Castiglione's painting was, 'In my heart there is the power to reign peaceably'. It is interesting to note that the newly arrived missionary Jean- Denis Attiret (1702-68) was advised to I learn the art of depicting imperial consorts by painting concubines. When Castiglione died at age seventy-eight in 1766, there seemed little to show for fifty-one years of service at the court, at least from f- Attiret's point of view. What were a few bolts of silk and the rank of Mandarin compared with the sacrifice Castiglione had made, serving the > emperors of a foreign country and religion? However, an imperial edict engraved on the stele marking Cas- tiglione's grave testifies to Qianlong's esteem for the Jesuit and his contribu- ( tion to the buildings and gardens of the i. (Fig. 6, left) Head of the Monkey originally emperor's beloved Yuanming Yuan. from the Great Fountain in front of the Haiyan A few illustrations can provide an Tang, dated c.