Cataloguing Chinese Art in the Middle and Late Imperial Eras
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations Spring 2010 Tradition and Transformation: Cataloguing Chinese Art in the Middle and Late Imperial Eras YEN-WEN CHENG University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Art and Architecture Commons, Asian History Commons, and the Cultural History Commons Recommended Citation CHENG, YEN-WEN, "Tradition and Transformation: Cataloguing Chinese Art in the Middle and Late Imperial Eras" (2010). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 98. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/98 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/98 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tradition and Transformation: Cataloguing Chinese Art in the Middle and Late Imperial Eras Abstract After obtaining sovereignty, a new emperor of China often gathers the imperial collections of previous dynasties and uses them as evidence of the legitimacy of the new regime. Some emperors go further, commissioning the compilation projects of bibliographies of books and catalogues of artistic works in their imperial collections not only as inventories but also for proclaiming their imperial power. The imperial collections of art symbolize political and cultural predominance, present contemporary attitudes toward art and connoisseurship, and reflect emperors’ personal taste for art. The attempt of this research project is to explore the practice of art cataloguing during two of the most important reign periods in imperial China: Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty (r. 1101-1125) and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (r. 1736-1795). Through examining the format and content of the selected painting, calligraphy, and bronze catalogues compiled by both emperors, features of each catalogue reveal the development of cataloguing imperial artistic collections. In addition to constructing a historical line of cataloguing art, this project demonstrates the relationship between contemporary politics, cultures, and art. Further, it offers suggestions about the purpose and function of imperial collections of art, on the one hand, and reflects emperors’ and literati’s attitudes and viewpoints on art and connoisseurship, on the other hand. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Nancy S. Steinhardt Second Advisor Victor H. Mair Third Advisor Julie N. Davis Keywords imperial collections, cataloguing art, Emperor Huizong, Emperor Qianlong, catalogues of artistic works Subject Categories Asian Art and Architecture | Asian History | Cultural History This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/98 TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION: CATALOGUING CHINESE ART IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE IMPERIAL ERAS Yen-wen Cheng A DISSERTATION in East Asian Languages and Civilizations Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Supervisor of Dissertation Signature _________________________ Nancy S. Steinhardt, Professor of East Asian Art Graduate Group Chairperson Signature _________________________ Nancy S. Steinhardt, Professor of East Asian Art Dissertation Committee Nancy S. Steinhardt, Professor of East Asian Art Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Julie N. Davis, Associate Professor, East Asian Art TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION: CATALOGUING CHINESE ART IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE IMPERIAL ERAS COPYRIGHT 2010 Yen-wen Cheng iii Dedicated to my parents iv Acknowledgements I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Professor Nancy S. Steinhardt. Without her ceaseless advice and warm engouragement, I could not have continued my doctoral study in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the ideal model of doing research and teaching. Her guidance and support made this dissertation possible. I would like to express my appreciation to my committee members, Professor Victor H. Mair and Professor Julie N. Davis, for giving me many comments on my research project and defense. Professor Mair’s teaching has also inspired me in sinological studies. I am grateful to Professor Paul R. Goldin, Professor Frank L. Chance, and Professor Jidong Yang, whose courses always provided me broader views on East Asian studies, and whose strong support enabled me to pursue my academic study. Many, many thanks to Margaret Guinan, Diane Moderski, and Linda Greene for assisting me with various administrative issues and for their friendship. A special thanks to Linda, who was so kind to offer to proofread my dissertation. The faculty and staff of this department have created a tremendous learning and reseach v environment. Studying here is the most wonderful experience that I have ever had. I am indebted to the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange for providing me with one year of financial support to complete my dissertation. My sincere thanks to my parents and my family, for their endless support and concern. Many thanks to all my friends, without whom this journey would have been so much more difficult. Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect during my graduate study and completion of this research project. vi ABSTRACT TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION: CATALOGUING CHINESE ART IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE IMPERIAL ERAS Yen-wen Cheng Nancy S. Steinhardt After obtaining sovereignty, a new emperor of China often gathers the imperial collections of previous dynasties and uses them as evidence of the legitimacy of the new regime. Some emperors go further, commissioning the compilation projects of bibliographies of books and catalogues of artistic works in their imperial collections not only as inventories but also for proclaiming their imperial power. The imperial collections of art symbolize political and cultural predominance, present contemporary attitudes toward art and connoisseurship, and reflect emperors’ personal taste for art. The attempt of this research project is to explore the practice of art cataloguing during two of the most important reign periods in imperial China: Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty (r. 1101-1125) and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (r. 1736-1795). Through examining the format and content of the selected painting, calligraphy, and bronze catalogues compiled by both emperors, features of each catalogue reveal the development of cataloguing imperial artistic collections. In addition to constructing a historical line of cataloguing art, this project demonstrates the relationship between contemporary politics, cultures, and art. Further, it offers suggestions about the vii purpose and function of imperial collections of art, on the one hand, and reflects emperors’ and literati’s attitudes and viewpoints on art and connoisseurship, on the other hand. viii CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Abstract vi List of Tables ix List of Illustrations x I. Introduction 1 II. Emperor Huizong’s Art Catalogues 14 Huizong and His Artistic Collections 14 Xuanhe huapu 宣和畫譜 34 Xuanhe shupu 宣和書譜 75 Xuanhe bogutu 宣和博古圖 92 Concluding Remarks 103 III. Emperor Qianlong’s Art Catalogues 106 Qianlong and His Artistic Collections 106 Midian zhulin 祕殿珠林 119 Shiqu baoji 石渠寶笈 134 Nanxundian zuncang tuxiang mu 南薰殿尊藏圖像目 and Chaku cangzhu tuxiang mu 茶庫藏貯圖像目 141 Midian zhulin Shiqu baoji xubian 祕殿珠林石渠寶笈續編 145 Midian zhulin Shiqu baoji sanbian 祕殿珠林石渠寶笈三編 152 The Four Catalogues on Bronzes 157 Concluding Remarks 161 IV. Conclusion 165 Bibliography 171 Tables 190 Illustrations 415 Index 431 ix TABLES 1 Artists and items in the Xuanhe huapu 190 2 Important painting texts before the Xuanhe reign period 192 3 Artists and items in the Xuanhe shupu 195 4 Calligraphic styles in the Xuanhe shupu 197 5 Important calligraphy texts before the Xuanhe reign period 198 6 Items in the Xuanhe bogutu 201 7 Types, functions, and classification of bronzes in the Xuanhe bogutu 206 8 Important bronze texts before the Xuanhe reign period 227 9 Items in the Midian zhulin 229 10 Items in the Shiqu baoji 238 11 Items in the Midian zhulin xubian 253 12 Items in the Shiqu baoji xubian 258 13 Items in the Midian zhulin sanbian 302 14 Items in the Shiqu baoji sanbian 314 15 Items in the Xiqing gujian 379 16 Items in the Ningshou jiangu 383 17 Items in the Xiqing xujian jia bian 386 18 Items in the Xiqing xujian yi bian 390 19 Storehouses in the series of Midian zhulin and Shiqu baoji 393 20 Mounting types in the series of Midian zhulin and Shiqu baoji 406 21 Items and categories in the Midian zhulin series 407 22 Items and categories in the Shiqu baoji series 411 23 Storehouses containing more than fifty pieces of painting and calligraphy in the series of Midian zhulin and Shiqu baoji 414 x ILLUSTRATIONS 1 Anonymous, Huizong zuo xiang 徽宗坐像 415 (after Lin et al. 2006, 230) 2 Diagram of the Northern Song imperial palace compound 415 (from Chen in Xuxiu siku quanshu vol. 1218, 344) 3 Anonymous, Jingde si tu—Taiqing guan shu 景德四圖—太清觀書 416 (after Lin et al. 2006, 136) 4 Liu Songnian 劉松年, Bogu tu 博古圖 416 (from Painting and Calligraphy Digital Data Retrieval System <http://painting.npm.gov.tw/npm_public/index.htm>) 5 Huizong, Lamei shanqin 蠟梅山禽 417 (after Lin et al. 2006, 194) 6 Huizong, Shu mudan shi tie 書牡丹詩帖 417 (after Lin et al.