Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2016 Collectors & Collections: classical to contemporary

Emperor Qianlong

Jackie Menzies

6/7 April 2016

Lecture summary:

Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), reigned 1736-1795 at a time of prosperity and territorial expansion. Augmenting the work of his father, Emperor Yongzheng 1722-1735, and grandfather, Emperor Kangxi 1662-1722, his long reign was the highpoint of the (1644-1911). The Qing emperors were Manchus who keenly sought to absorb the traditions of the Ming Chinese they had defeated, as well as the various peoples of their border areas, most notably the Mongols and Tibetans. The core of the Qing conquest elite was comprised of households registered in the , military units that also became administrative units and ensured relative peace throughout the high point of Qing. Qing emperors ruled from the in , whilst also building summer palaces where they spent many months of each year, to escape the Beijing heat and to maintain sports such as hunting and archery, integral to their Manchu heritage. All emperors were diligent administrators, committed to understanding the cultures of the many people over whom they ruled. Qianlong identified himself as the ruler of five peoples: Manchus, Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans and Uighurs. Qianlong was a brilliant strategist, an exceptional scholar, a poet, and connoisseur. He understood that possession of the ancient imperial collections was seen as the legitimation of his own right to rule. Moreover, he amassed many works of art as a tribute to the magnificent, unique heritage successive generations of Chinese had created. Whilst caring for and cataloguing existing collections, Qianlong added a huge number of objects which he obtained through his own relentless demands on the Imperial workshops, as well as through gifts and tributes. Under him new styles were created through interactions with the cultures of Mongolia, Tibet and the West, eg, a new hybrid form of painting that combined Western-style realism with traditional brushwork. This lecture examines aspects of the Imperial collections under Qianlong’s reign, while acknowledging the dispersal, and loss, of many pieces that occurred with the 1860 sacking by French and British troops of the Yuanming Yuan .

Slide list: (all works are in the collection of the Imperial Palace, Beijing, unless stated otherwise) 1. Map of China 2. The Forbidden City, established by Yongle, second Emperor of Ming dynasty, r 1403-1424 3. Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness), 1709-1860; one of its European structures 4. Views of Summer Resort of (Rehe) 5. Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining), 1688-1766 (attrib), Portrait of Emperor Qianlong 1735; The in ceremonial armour on horseback, 1739 or 1758, hanging scroll, originally a tieluo (painting pasted onto a wall), ink and colour on silk, 325 x 232 cm 6. Giuseppe Castiglione (attrib) and others,Imperial banquet in the Garden of 10,000 trees,1755, horizontal wall scroll, colours on silk 7. Giuseppe Castiglione, Kazaks offering horses in tribute to the Emperor Qianlong 1757, Musée Guimet, Paris 8. Giuseppe Castiglione Inauguration portrait of Qianlong, the empress, and the eleven imperial consorts, dated 1736; colours on silk, ht 53 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art

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9. Room of Three Rarities within the Hall of Cultivating Mind; calligraphy by Lu Ji & Wang Xun 10. Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766, Spring’s Peaceful Message, c1736, ink and colours on silk 11. Giuseppe Castiglione, and Ding Guanpeng (fl. c 1738-68), The Qianlong Emperor viewing paintings 1746-c1750, hanging scroll, ink & colour on paper; Ding Guanpeng, fl. c1738-1768, Washing the elephant, 1750, hanging scroll, ink and colours on paper 12.Han Gan (Chinese, active ca. 742–756), Night-Shining White, ca. 750; Handscroll; ink on paper, Image: 30.8 x 34 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1977 13. Gu Kaizhi, 344-405 (attrib), Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies, handscroll, BM 14. Mirror of the Antiquities of the Western Apartments (Xiqing gujian), compiled at imperial behest from 1749, printed book; Ritual wine vessel (you), Western Zhou period, 10th century BCE, bronze, British Museum; Circular cauldron ding, Shang dynasty, c1700-1027 BCE, 1100s-1000s BCE, bronze, Art Gallery of NSW, Bequest of Kenneth Myer 1993 15. Anon, Pictures of Ancient Playthings, 1729, handscrolls, i.c.o.p, Victoria & Albert Museum 16. Nephrite cup, saucer and booklet in lacquer box, ht of cup 4.4 cm; Qianlong period 17. Qianlong Court artists, Qianlong appraising, c1750, screen, colours on silk 18. Curio boxes, and new forms with traditional media 19. Jade mountain with a scene of the Nine Elders of Huichang, dated 1786, jade boulder, 115 cm 20. Portrait of Changkya Rölpé Dorjé (Rolpay Dorge) (1717-1786) 21. Interior of the first cell of the Building of Buddhist Brilliance (Fanlou Shrine), 1774 22. Qianlong workshops, Guanyin and stupa, gold 23. Chengde Mountain Resort, built 1703- 1792 24. Putuozhongcheng, Chengde; , Lhasa 25. Rubbing depicting sal tree painted by Qianlong, 1780; ink on paper, with superscriptions (r. to l) in Chinese, Tibetan ,Manchu, Mongolian 26.The Qianlong emperor in Buddhist dress, c1758, thangka, colours on cloth, 108 x 63 27. Portrait of Heshen, 1750-1799 28. Fountains in NE corner of the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Yuanming yuan), copperplate engraving on paper from a set of 20 leaves after drawings by Yi Lantei (fl. c1738-1786), Berlin 29. Two of original 12 zodiac fountain-heads from Yuanming Yuan 30. Ai Weiwei’s versions of Zodiac animals and his 2014 installation at Blenheim Palace

Reference:

Ho, Chuimei and Bronson, Bennet, 2004, Splendours of China’s Forbidden City, The Glorious reign of Emperor Qianlong, Chicago, The Field Museum

Meng, Ding and Pang, Mae Anna, 2015, A Golden Age of China, Qianlong Emperor 1736-1795, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria

Rawski, Evelyn and Rawon, Jessica (eds), 2006, CHINA, The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, Royal Academy of Arts

Weng, Wan-go and Boda, Yang, 1982, The Palace Museum: Peking, London, Orbis Publishing

For access to all past lecture notes visit: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/collectors/