HEAVENANDEARTHTHECOLLECTIONOFANAESTHETEHONGKONG9OCTOBER2023HK1359

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香港拍賣

2023年10月9日

拍賣編號 HK1359

11:30 AM

香港會議展覽中心 ( 新翼 ) ,

展覽廳1

香港灣仔博覽道一號

AUCTION IN HONG KONG

9 OCTOBER 2023

SALE HK1359

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HK 查閱最新情況。

TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

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天 地 乾 坤

鑒藏第一章

HEAVEN AND EARTH

THE COLLECTION OF AN AESTHETE

ENQUIRIES

SALE NUMBER

ABSENTEE AND TELEPHONE BIDS

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Telephone bid requests should be received

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off ered for lots with a minimum low estimate

of HK$40,000

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AND COLLECTION,

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AUCTION AND EXHIBITION

INFORMATION

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SPECIALISTS

Nicolas Chow

Chairman, Asia

Chairman and Worldwide Head of Asian Art

+852 2822 8128

nicolas.chow@sothebys.com

Carrie Li

Deputy Chairman of

Chinese Works of Art, Asia

+852 2822 8155

carrie.li@sothebys.com

Xibo Wang

Head of Department

+852 2822 5582

xibo.wang@sothebys.com

Amethyst Chau

Specialist

+852 2822 8121

amethyst.chau@sothebys.com

Cristine Li

Specialist

+852 2822 8122

cristine.li@sothebys.com

Keason Tang

Head of Mid-Season Sales

+852 2822 9027

keason.tang@sothebys.com

Rubie Fong

Junior Specialist

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Xiaoye Yang

Cataloguer

+852 2822 8135

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BEIJING

Sonya Wu

Specialist

+86 10 5082 5873

sonya.wu@sothebys.com

SHANGHAI

Norbu Peng

Specialist

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norbu.peng@sothebys.com

TAIPEI

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Specialist

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chingyi.huang@sothebys.com

TOKYO

Mizuka Seya

Specialist

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mizuka.seya@sothebys.com

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH

Regina Krahl‡

Haoyang Zhao

PRE-SALE CLIENT EXPERIENCE

Vivienne Tsing

+852 2822 8126

vivienne.tsing@sothebys.com

Gwyneth Ng

+852 2822 5549

gwyneth.ng@sothebys.com

‡ Consultant

HK1359 “HEAVEN“

CONTENTS

1

IMPORTANT NOTICE

3

AUCTION & EXHIBITION INFORMATION

4

SPECIALISTS AND ENQUIRIES

12

HEAVEN AND EARTH -

THE COLLECTION OF AN AESTHETE

LOTS 3501-3508

122

HOW TO BID

Heaven and earth, and more specifically the

principals of cosmology as they relate to Imperial

power, are at the heart of this very sophisticated

collection of Imperial works of art. For the

Qianlong Emperor, asserting the legitimacy of the

dynasty established by his Manchu ancestors,

and of his rule in particular, was a matter of

utmost importance. This pursuit was evident in

his strict adherence to court rites, in his many

poems devoted to emperorship and in the myriad

objects the emperor commissioned to affirm his

role as a mediator between heaven and earth.

The Qianlong Emperor was an avid collector of

archaic jades, as they were believed to embody

the virtue of the ancients, and particularly discs

known as bi, as they symbolized Heaven. He

devoted time to their study, when inspired wrote

poems extolling their virtues and sometimes

had them mounted in precious zitan wood

frames so that they could adorn his halls and

studies. The medieval jade bi carved with

dragons and phoenixes and mounted on a superb

zitan stand in this collection ranks among the

finest such examples to survive. Not only did

the Emperor collect jade discs from the past,

he also occasionally had bi discs carved. The

FOREWORD

Nicolas Chow

Chairman, Asia

Chairman and Worldwide Head of Asian Art

spectacular massive jade bi in this collection and

its magnificently cast bronze stand would have

once stood outside an important hall within the

Forbidden City, carefully positioned on its central

axis. The only other jade disc of this size, cut and

polished from the very same stone and mounted

on a bronze stand in the same style, still stands

today facing the all important Yangxindian (the

Hall of Mental Cultivation) where the Emperor

spent much of his time at the court. The

importance of this massive ceremonial jade bi

cannot be overstated.

The other rare treasures in the collection – an

archaistic ritual jade gui tablet carved out of the

purest white jade, a superbly crafted bronze

bookstand that may have once held a Confucian

classic in an Imperial study in the Yangxindian, a

baroque meditation chair made out of wild organic

rootwood among others – all attest to the Qing

emperors’ quest for political legitimacy, patronage

of the arts and self-cultivation. This selection of

works of art also comes as a testament to the

exceptional eye of an aesthete whose lifelong

mission it has been to chase the rarest and most

remarkable Imperial works of art.

“Heaven and earth, and more specifically the

principals of cosmology as they relate to

Imperial power, are at the heart of this very

sophisticated collection of Imperial works

of art.”

序

天地乾坤、宇宙綱常，乃皇權所繫。此一系列皇家御

製珍藏亦以之為圭臬，苦心集腋而成。乾隆皇帝身為

天子，確立滿族天命，江山正統、皇權天授， 屬國本

要務。如此渴求，明見於高宗終身嚴守朝禮，亦反映

在許多御製詩文，以及皇帝親授製作之器物，用以強

調闡揚天子一統天地之地位。

乾隆皇帝廣蒐高古玉器，深信古玉載德，尤其玉璧，

象徵天。不僅專研古玉壁，並撰詩文讚頌，時而詔命

特製紫檀木座，陳設於宮殿、書齋。本收藏中御製

紫檀嵌龍鳳纹玉璧插屏，可謂存世作例中佼佼者。乾

隆皇帝珍藏古玉壁，偶亦特令琢製新玉壁。本藏之御

製和闐青玉大玉璧與鑄銅雙龍座，精湛恢弘，氣勢懾

人，原應立於紫禁城重要宮殿首，精準位於中軸線

上。唯一尺寸、刀工、打磨均相同，且琢自同一塊碩

大玉料之大玉壁，鑄銅座亦與本品風格一致，今仍立

於養心殿，此乃乾隆皇帝最主要的理政起居之處。本

品之歷史意義與重要性，不言而喻。

收藏中眾多珍寶，如一件仿古白玉圭壁，玉質淨潔瑩

亮； 鎏金銅雙龍戲珠紋摺疊式帖架，細緻精美，或曾

於養心殿書齋中，伴君覽卷讀書；匯芳書院舊藏天然

藤木禪椅，取野藤木根巧製，靈動奇絕；皆彰顯清代

帝王對於政權正統、藝文發展及心靈修養之追求。羅

列至珍，足證藏主眼力雄銳，畢生心血，惟最珍稀重

要之御製工藝品，方能入藏。

仇國仕

蘇富比亞洲區主席 | 亞洲藝術部主席兼環球主管

「天地乾坤、宇宙綱常，乃皇權所繫。此一系列

皇家御製珍藏亦以之為圭臬，苦心集腋而成。」

of the scenic spots of Qixia Mountain. After that, the

emperor would make imperial inscriptions to add new

scenic spots every time he came here. According to

incomplete statistics, there are over 30 places with the

Qianlong Emperor's imperial inscriptions here, which

is extremely rare in other Jiangnan scenes throughout

his southern tours.

The first visit to the

Qixia Mountain left

the emperor with

the impression

that \"I was stunned

by the view on my

first visit\", and

he immediately

ordered Qian

Weicheng to

paint the scenes

and bring them

back to Beijing.

Without letting the

emperor down,

Qian presented

the final painting

to the emperor for

inspection on the

sixth day of the fifth month. The emperor immediately

ordered the Imperial Workshop to \"paste the mounting

paper with a two-cm-wide blue silky edging\". It might

be made into a picture on the wall, which was posted in

the imperial palaces or imperial gardens for constant

viewing. Only after three years, namely in the twentyfifth year of Qianlong’s reign, Qian Weicheng created a

large painting named Panorama of Qixia Mountain, on

which the Qianlong Emperor inscribed a poem:

The picture describing the Sheshan Mountain seems

to have a life, as if the mountain suddenly appears in

front of me.

The undulating mountains are like layers of waves,

with springs trickling under the grace peaks.

The remains of the ancient hermit enrich the cultural

heritages, and the scenery here reflects the great

painter's style.

The future and the past are fleeting; you are only in it

by chance.2

The emperor made a note below the sentence of

\"future\": \"I will have a southern tour again next year.\"

He looked forward to climbing Qixia Mountain again

the year after while he watched the painting, with

burning desire beyond words. However, the third

southern tour conceived by the emperor embarked

two years later rather than a year later. The painting

was mounted on a hanging scroll in the thirty-third

year of Qianlong’s reign, which is the Panorama of

Qixia Mountain scroll collected by the Palace Museum

in Taipei. There is another handing scroll of Qian

Qixia Mountain, a famous mountain in the northeast

of Nanjing, was once the abode of Ming Sengshao, a

hermit in the six dynasties who built the Qixia Temple

here. On the sixth day of the third month in the twentysecond year of Qianlong’s reign, the emperor made his

first visit to Qixia Mountain with his mother. He stayed

in the temporary

imperial palace

for two days.

When he began to

return to Beijing

four days later,

he stayed here

for another day.

During the three

days he stayed

here, the emperor

composed 19

poems, which

fully showed

his adoration of

the waters and

mountains here. In

his first poem on

Qixia Mountain, he

praised:

As the most beautiful mountain in Nanjing, it stunned

me unprecedentedly on my first visit.

The clouds cover the Purple Peak Pavilion, while the

springtime water trickles out of the White Deer Spring.

The stone tablet of Buddhism was carved in the Sui

dynasty, and the hermit of the Southern Qi Dynasty

changed his residence to a temple for the sake of

Buddha's fate.

The peak name Black Gauze Cap (shamao)

symbolizes officialdom, which the hermit may not like.1

Only a few of the famous scenic spots of the Qixia

Mountain, such as the Purple Peak Pavilion (zifengge),

the White Deer Spring (bailuquan), the Sui (Tang)

Stela, and the Qixia Temple are mentioned in the

poem. When the emperor first visited the Qixia

Mountain, he left his imperial inscriptions to mark 15

scenic spots. They include Best scenery (Zuisheng),

Purple Peak (zifeng), Merits and Virtues Pavilion

(gongdege), Pine Forest Spring (wasongquan),

Green Mountain House (shoucui shanfang), Spring

Stone from Nice Building (quanshi zijialou), the Great

Void Pavilion (taixuting), Rolling Hills of Nanjing

(baixi juan'e), Spring Rain Mountain House (chunyu

shanfang), Soaring Clouds (lingyunyi), Monks' Fine

Cottage (shiliang jingshe), Bamboo-Hat-Shaped

Pavilion (liting), Huashan Mountain, Chang Taoist

Temple, and Taigu Hall. So many imperial inscriptions

are beyond the realm of general sightseeing. It is a

summary of the landscape of Qixia Mountain. In other

words, the Qianlong Emperor became the creator

EMPEROR QIANLONG'S SOUTHERN TOURS AND

AN IMPERIAL INSCRIBED WHITE JADE \"QIXIA

MOUNTAIN\" TABLE SCREEN

“The rendering of the Purple Peak Pavilion and

the nearby Qixia Temple, Wuliang Hall, and

Stupa in the present screen is enlarged and

clearer than the example from the Palace

Museum; the scene of Nine Pines, on the other

hand, which is rudimentarily represented in

the present lot is depicted more specifically

in the Palace Museum example. One creates

a distant view while the other shows a close

view, demonstrating the close association of

the present screen to the one from the Imperial

Qing court collection.”

characters.

It used to be called Qixia Temple, Sheshan Mountain,

but now the mountain is directly called the Qixia

Mountain.

The place is rich in different kinds of herbs to heal the

wounded and rescue the dying, and there are also

many clear springs that bring peace and comfort to

people.

I'm not here fora break and relaxation, but to

understand people's conditions and the difficulties of

the country.

The palace where I am staying is simple, but I'm

still at ease when I compose poems in the beautiful

landscape.3

The two poems are the first poem on the Qixia

Mountain composed respectively during first and

second southern tours. The two poems were engraved

in one place, indicating that the processing time

of the jade was between the twenty-seventh year

and the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong’s reign when

the emperor returned to Beijing from his fourth

southern tour. Comparing the picture of it with that

of the wood-cut Qixia Temple, which is one part of

the Southern Tour Grand Ceremony, one may find

that the mountains, trees, and buildings correspond

with each other without any difference, especially the

layout of the three peaks is beyond doubt that the two

paintings are closely linked. Again, when observing

the jade table screen, one can see the famous scenic

spots of Qixia Mountain one by one. One can refer to

the coloured points in the attached pictures to identify

the specific corresponding relationship. Among Ten

Qixia Scenic Spots formed after that time, we can

identify at least eight from the two pictures, including

the Lingfeng Pond (lingfengchi), Purple Peak Pavilion,

Pine Forest House, Secluded Residence Nunnery

Weicheng's Panorama of Qixia Mountain collected by

the Palace Museum in Beijing, which is, together with

the scroll Panorama of Qixia Mountain collected by the

Palace Museum in Taipei, recorded in the Collected

Treasures of the Stony Moat (shiqu baoji). Meanwhile,

an album of twelve leaves named Qixia Mountain

Painting created by Qian Weicheng is also recorded in

Collected Treasures of the Stony Moat. So far, along

with the Qixia Mountain Painting presented by Qian

Weicheng on the sixth day of the fifth month in the

twenty-second year of Qianlong’s reign mentioned

above, Qian Weicheng painted four pictures for the

same place in total, showing the emperor's special

love for this place. The above paintings are very crucial

to the creation of the present Imperial Inscribed White

Jade \"Qixia Mountain\" Table Screen, because their

picture features had a direct impact on the Picture

of Qixia Temple, a wood-cut works as one part of the

Southern Tour Grand Ceremony compiled in the thirtyfifth year of Qianlong’s reign. And the corresponding

relationship between the latter and the present

White Jade Table Screen is definite, except for the

different materials of woodcut and jade in representing

the same image. Readers can make one-by-one

comparison by examining the accompanying images

of this article.

This Imperial Inscribed White Jade \"Qixia Mountain\"

Table Screen is 24.5 cm long, 18.3 cm tall, and 3 cm

thick, with Qixia Mountain picture engraved on the

front, and two poems with the same name. They were

composed in the twenty-second and twenty-seventh

years of Qianlong’s reign respectively, gilded on the

back. The poem composed in the twenty-second year

has been quoted before. Here is the poem written in

the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong’s reign:

The Qixia Mountain was named after the Qixia

Temple, possibly to avoid the taboo of certain Chinese

Fig.1 Qian Weicheng, Complete Picture of Qixia, Palace Museum, Taipei

圖1 錢維城《棲霞全圖》軸 台北故宮博物院藏

In recent years, an increasing number of people start

to pay attention to the Qianlong Emperor's southern

tours with the popularity in culture and museums in

the whole society. The story of the emperor's tour

more than 200 years ago is not only a topic, but

also a phenomenon, being relentlessly developed

and exploited by various works, special exhibitions,

tourism development and even cultural and creative

products. From the economic phenomena, we find

that the essence of his southern tours should be reevaluated and re-examined.

When we start from the Forbidden City alongside

the Grand Canal today, we'll find that almost every

tourist attraction in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu

and Zhejiang provinces is related to the Qianlong

Emperor's southern tours. No matter whether it’s

natural mountains and waters, or cultural landscapes,

the emperor left his inscriptions at nearly every

attraction of the above lands during his southern

tours. Facing those time-honoured attractions, the

emperor often ordered the imperial painters to \"create

paintings of the attractions accurately\" and imitate

them in Beijing's imperial gardens, just as Wang

Kaiyun described in his poems on Qing Palace, \"The

emperor enjoyed the good scenery of Jiangnan (the

south area of the Yangtze River), and 'shifted' them

to the imperial garden in a scaled-down manner.\"

They did not only imitate the similar appearance of

the landscape of Jiangnan, but also directly used the

same materials, crafts, and even craftsmen. Today,

we can still peek into the gorgeous Jiangnan dream

of the Qianlong Emperor from the jaw-dropping

southern-style decoration of the First District of the

Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Ningshougong) in the

Forbidden City.

Interestingly, the Qianlong Emperor once exaggerated

in his later years that he had only two achievements

in his life, \"One is the western military action and

the other is the southern tour.\" The western military

action refers to the suppression of the rebellion across

the south and the north of Mount Tianshan, while

the southern tour is the synonym for his six tours to

Jiangsu, Zhejiang and the surrounding provinces. The

two seemingly unrelated events were closely linked

by one thing. That is what the Qianlong Emperor was

obsessed with throughout his life - jade. His obsession

with jade was reflected in the fact that each of his

dozen sons were given the name of fine jade. In the

seventh month of the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong’s

reign, the rebellions of Elder and Younger Xojam

clans were wiped out. With the ending of the war at

the south of Mount Tianshan, the road accessing the

jade in southern Xinjiang was completely opened.

This greatly enriched the jade material sources to the

Imperial Workshop of the Qing Palace. Along with the

southern tours of the emperor, the jade materials from

the northwest were engraved with rich decorative

patterns like souvenirs. A considerable number of

them were processed in Jiangnan area and imprinted

with deep \"southern tour\" memories. The present

imperial inscribed white jade\" Qixia Mountain\" table

screen is one of them.

This Imperial Inscribed White Jade \"Qixia Mountain\"

Table Screen is an elaborate work among the jade

(youju'an), Layering Wave Cliff (dielangya), Pearl

Spring (zhenzhuquan), Rainbow Mirror (caihong

mingjing), and Deyun Nunnery (deyun'an). The Palace

Museum in Beijing also holds a large grey Jade boulder

with Panorama of Qixia Mountain, representing the

Qixia Mountain in a more stereoscopic way to highlight

the morphologic effect, forming the visual differences

of the three dimensions and one dimension between

the present work and the present White Jade Table

Screen. The two palace furnishings sharing the

same theme create a different viewing experience.

Coincidentally, in the forty-first year of Qianlong’s

reign, the Salt Administrator of Huaibei-Huainan Area

Yiling Ar contributed \"one jade boulder with Imperial

Poems on Qixia Mountain\" to the court. Moreover, the

contribution by the Salt Administrator also indicates

that such works might be created by Jiangnan

craftsmen who were familiar with local scenery, which

provides useful clues for us to explore the sources and

the craftsmen of the Imperial Inscribed White Jade

\"Qixia Mountain\" Table Screen. It is sure that the two

imperial poems on the back of the Imperial Inscribed

White Jade \"Qixia Mountain\" Table Screen should

be engraved by the special gravers working for the

Imperial Calligraphy Workshop as the calligraphy style

of the poems is completely consistent with that of the

emperor, achieving unity in form and spirit.

In the sixteenth year of Qianlong’s reign, the Qianlong

Emperor toured Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang

Province with his mother, which kicked off his six

southern tours spanning 34 years. The Qianlong

Emperor emphasized repeatedly that the main

motivation of the southern trips was \"river engineering

rather than anything else\". So understanding local

customs and social conditions, and visiting famous

landscapes were trifles to him compared with the

significant purpose of river engineering. Undeniably,

the Qianlong Emperor made plans on river engineering

(for the Yellow River) and coastal defence (for the

Qiantang River) before and during each southern

tour. He and his ministers in charge jointly created

the magnificent feat of river control, such as river

dikes and scale-shaped seawall construction, keeping

Jiangsu, Zhejiang and surrounding provinces away

from the river and sea inundation for long indeed.

He wrote many poems describing him and his

ministers in charge of river control to command and

dispatch the personnel on site. These poems were

engraved on multiple monuments in Huai'an and

Haining areas, surviving up to now. Apart from river

engineering, calling in local officers, holding additional

imperial examination, relieving tax burdens, and

performing military exercises and reviews were also

important agenda during his southern tours. These

can be regarded as the government affairs, with an

embodiment of \"trip for official businesses\" during the

imperial tours. Although the Qianlong Emperor used

\"supervising everything myself without selfish desires;

supervising my ministers and their servants regarding

obeying laws; supervising the local officials regarding

fulfilling official duties; observing the common people

of each province about how they meet me\" as excuses

to prevent people from criticizing his southern tours

as sightseeing trips, future generations should take his

extravagance and ostentation as a warning.

Fig.2 The woodblock print Picture of Qixia Mountain corresponds to the

marked color positions on the present Lot

圖2 木刻本《棲霞山圖》與白玉御題游棲霞山屏的標色點位對應

screens in the era of Qianlong Emperor. The Palace

Museum in Beijing has preserved multiple similar

jade screens, most of which are in the form of table

screens, including the Gray Jade Table Screen with the

pattern of \"Lao Zi Entering the Gate\", the FishermanWoodcutter-Landscape patterned Gray Jade Table

Screen, the Fisherman-Woodcutter-Farmer-Scholar

patterned Jasper Table Screen, the White Jade Table

Screen with the pattern of \"Su Dongpo Visiting Red

Cliff\", the Gray Jade Table Screen, etc. This indicates

that the jade screens describing scenery formed

a typified production tradition for the Qing Palace

furnishings in Qianlong’, reign, and the present

Imperial Inscribed White Jade \"Qixia Mountain\" Table

Screen should also be a table screen with a wooden

seat to be displayed in the palace. It is worth noting

that the above-mentioned Gray Jade Table Screen

collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing (cultural

relic number: Gu-00103186) should have a very close

relationship with this Imperial Inscribed White Jade

\"Qixia Mountain\" Table Screen. Both the front and

back sides of the grey jade table screen are carved

with patterns. However, the Palace Museum only

names it in a simple way as it may not understand

the meaning of the images. It is not difficult to find,

by scrutinizing the pictures and the imperial poems

on it, that views in the front and on the back of this

table screen show two scenes of Qixia MountainPurple Peak Pavilion and Nine Pines, which, of course,

also appear in this Imperial Inscribed White Jade

\"Qixia Mountain\" Table Screen. By comparison,

the corresponding relationship between them can

be completely established: The rendering of the

Purple Peak Pavilion and the nearby Qixia Temple,

Wuliang Hall, and Stupa in the present screen is

enlarged and clearer than the example from the

Palace Museum; the scene of Nine Pines, on the

other hand, which is rudimentarily represented in

the present lot is depicted more specifically in the

Palace Museum example. One creates a distant view

while the other shows a close view, demonstrating

the close association of the present screen to the

one from the Imperial Qing court collection. The

association between the two works in the Qing court

is beyond doubt. Speculating based on common

sense, the emperor was fond of no fewer than ten

scenic spots in Qixia Mountain. So, there should be

multiple table screens showing the sub-views to be

produced, forming the corresponding relationship of

the sub-views and the panorama between them and

the Imperial Inscribed White Jade \"Qixia Mountain\"

Table Screen. As for the survival of other sub-view

table screens, it needs to be further explored and

sorted out. Thus, from paintings to woodcuts, from

jade boulders to jade table screens, from panorama to

sub-views, relentlessly paintings and engravings of the

Qixia Mountain echoed the Qianlong Emperor's praise

for \"the most beautiful mountain in Nanjing\".

It is conceivable that after the Qianlong Emperor's

last southern tour at the end of the forty-first year

of his reign, the emperor regretted that he would

never see the scenic spots in the south in the rest of

his life, which can be seen from his remarks that \"six

southern tours have come to an end, and I can only

visit Jiangnan in my dreams in future.\"4 Nevertheless,

he might be able to get uninterrupted psychological

compensation and spiritual sublimation through

these paintings, jade carvings, and table screens that

transcend time and space. 1 (Qing) Hongli: Visit Qixia Mountain, Vol. 71 of The Second Collection of Imperial

Poems.

2 Compiled by the First Historical Archives of China, Art Museum of the Chinese

University of Hong Kong: Zaobanchu Archives of the Qing Imperial Household

Department (qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu danganzonghui), vol. 32, p. 494,

the thirty-forth year of the Qianlong reign, list of manufacturing tasks, the

Imperial Workshop's manufacturing task record: \"On the nineteenth day,

received Assistant Minister Li Wenzhao's affix, including one panorama

landscape painting of Qixia Mountain by Qian Weicheng presented by Dong

Wujing on the second day of the third month... By Imperial Order: ...imperial

inscribed on Qian Weicheng's landscape painting...mount on a hanging

scroll...\"

3 (Qing) Hongli: Visit Qixia Mountain, Vol. 23 of The Third Collection of Imperial

Poems.

4 (Qing) Hongli: No. 6 of Six Poems with Three-repeated Previous Rhyme, Vol. 5

of The Fifth Collection of Imperial Poems.

17

第一金陵明秀山，所欣初遇足空前

—乾隆南巡與白玉御題游棲霞山屏

乾隆十六年，乾隆帝奉母巡幸江浙，拉開了歷時34

年共六次的南巡序幕。 南巡之舉，在乾隆帝自己說

來，就是「南巡之事，莫大於河工」1—治河，成為

了他一再強調的南巡主因。 至於治河以外的省方問

俗、優遊林泉，則一概被其視為細枝末節，無關出巡

宏旨。 不可否認的是，乾隆皇帝的歷次南巡，於河

工（黃河）、海防（錢塘江）多有擘畫，他與督臣共

同創造的定清口水志、築魚鱗石塘的治河壯舉，也確

實保障了江浙幾省長久的河清海晏。其與河臣親臨現

場指揮調度的詩章鐫刻在淮安、海寧兩地的多座豐碑

上屹立至今。除治河外，諸如引見地方官員、開恩科

取士、蠲除錢糧、演兵閱武等，同樣也是南巡途中

的重要內容。 這

些均可視為政務活

動，是帝王出巡之

「行在辦公」的體

現。 南巡途中「

視予躬之如何無欲

也，視扈蹕諸臣以

至僕役之如何守法

也，視地方大小吏

之如何奉公也，視

各省民人之如何瞻

覲親近也」2

成為

了乾隆皇帝封堵後

世視其南巡為遊山

玩水之悠悠眾口的

口實，理由雖然冠

冕堂皇，其鋪張靡

費之巨，實為後世炯誡。

近年來，隨著席捲全社會的文化熱、博物館熱，越來

越多的人開始關注乾隆南巡。 兩百多年前皇帝出巡

的故事，已經不止是一個話題，更是一種現象，被眾

家著作、專題展覽、旅遊開發甚至是文創產品一再琢

磨利用。 撕開經濟的外衣，我們發現其南巡本真的

東西應當得到再評價與再認識。

今天，我們從紫禁城出發，沿大運河一路向南，歷數

北京、河北、山東、江蘇、浙江五地風景名勝，可以

說少有與乾隆南巡無關的。 燕南趙北、孔林岱岳、

黃淮河網、越水吳山，南巡途中的地方名物幾乎都被

皇帝摩挲品題。 面對那些久名於世的風景名勝，皇

帝動輒命畫手「致佳圖以歸」3

，然後在皇家園林中

大加仿建，一如王闿運清宮詞所述：「誰道江南風景

佳，移天縮地在君懷。」對江南美景的模仿，不僅追

求環境的神似，更是從材料到工藝甚至是工匠的直接

照搬。 我們今天仍然可以在紫禁城寧壽宮一區令人

咋舌的南式裝修中一覽乾隆皇帝華麗的江南夢。

有意思的是，乾隆皇帝晚年曾經誇張地說他的一生只

做了兩件事，「一曰西師，一曰南巡」。 西師，即

對天山南北的用兵; 南巡，則指六次巡幸江浙。 這

兩件事看似無關，卻因為一件物品而被緊密地聯繫

在一起。 那就是乾隆皇帝終其一生都在如癡如醉地

迷戀的東西——玉。 說他如癡如醉，他的十余位兒

子每一個都被他冠以美玉的名字。 乾隆二十四年七

月，大小和卓木叛亂被剿滅，天山南路戰事底定，南

疆玉路至此徹底打通。 這極大地充實了清宮造辦處

的玉料來源。 隨著皇帝的四出巡幸，來自西北的玉

料像紀念品一樣，被鐫刻上豐富的裝飾圖案，其中相

當一部分要發往吳地雕琢加工，同時也就被烙上了深

深的南巡記憶，我們今天看到的這塊白玉御題游棲霞

山屏便是其中之一。

棲霞，南京東

北一座著名山

峰，曾是六朝

隱士明僧紹的

幽居處，他開

創的棲霞寺就

築於山中。 乾

隆二十二年三

月十六日，皇

帝奉母初臨棲

霞，於行宮駐

蹕二日，四天

后起鑾回京

時，再至棲霞

駐蹕一日。 皇

帝於此盤桓三

日，賦詩19首，足見對這裡水態山光的愛慕。 他在

第一首棲霞詩中如是讚道：

第一金陵明秀山，所欣初遇足空前。

畫屏雲罨紫峰閣，乳竇春淙白鹿泉。

梵業鐫碑尚隋代，浹因舍宅自齊賢。

更誰鑿壁名紗帽，只恐平原意未然。4

詩中提到了棲霞山著名景物如紫峰閣、白鹿泉、隋

（唐）碑、棲霞寺等，其實遠不及此。 皇帝初遊棲

霞，即對其中15處「點位」親灑宸翰，予以標明。

計有最勝、紫峰、功德閣、萬松泉、受翠山房、泉石

自佳樓、太虛亭、白下卷阿、春雨山房、凌雲意、石

梁精舍、笠亭、話山、暢觀、太古堂。 如此繁密的

點題，已經超出了一般遊覽的境界，這是對棲霞山山

水環境的概括和總結。 換句話說，乾隆皇帝在此時

成為了創構棲霞山景觀的造景人。 此後再巡江浙，

每至這裡必有新的「點位」得到皇帝點題。 不完全

統計，當有三十余處之多，這在南巡所至的江南景物

中是極其少見的。 對棲霞的初次邂逅，即給皇帝留

下了「所欣初遇足空前」的印象，他隨即命錢維城作

「通過對比，二者可以完全建立畫面的

對應關係：白玉御題游棲霞山屏中紫

峰閣及其附近的棲霞寺、無量殿、

舍利塔被青玉插屏的畫面放大得更清

晰、更直觀; 白玉御題游棲霞山屏中

被約略表現的九株松則被青玉插屏

予以一一示現。 二者一遠觀，一近

看，妙趣橫生。」

19

料上的不同表現而已，讀者可在本文的配圖中一一

檢索對比。

此件白玉御題游棲霞山屏長24.5cm，高18.3cm，厚

3cm，正面鐫棲霞山圖景，背面描金陰刻乾隆皇帝丁

丑（二十二年）、壬午（二十七年）兩首同名詩作。

丁丑詩前已引述，壬午詩為：

棲霞名寺遂名山，點竄寧因字句間。

本名攝山棲霞寺，名也今雲棲霞山。

藥草攝生何不可，乳泉滌慮恰宜閒。

偶來尋勝非耽靜，敢懈觀民正憶艱。

朴斲行宮居信宿，對時摛藻我猶閒。8

兩首詩分別為第一、第二次南巡棲霞山眾多詩篇中的

首詩。 二詩鐫刻一處，表明其製作的時間上限為乾

隆二十七年，下限當在乾隆三十年第四次南巡迴鑾之

際。 以其畫面與《南巡盛典》木刻本《棲霞寺圖》

對勘，我們會發現山勢、樹石、建築均可以一一對

應，尤其是三峰鼎峙的畫面佈局，兩者間毫無二致，

說二圖互為因循是無可置疑的。 再觀察玉屏，棲霞

山的著名風物被一一表現出來，具體對應關係讀者

可參見附圖中的標色點位。 在此後形成的「棲霞十

景」中，我們從兩種畫面里至少可以辨認出八處，計

有玲峰池、紫峰閣、萬松山房、幽居庵、疊浪崖、珍

珠泉、彩虹明鏡、德雲庵。 故宮博物院另存有青玉

棲霞全圖山子一座，因為山子的天然特徵使然，其表

現的棲霞山景致更加立體化，隨形效果更加明顯，與

圖，擬將倩影帶回北京。 錢氏不辱皇命，僅在五月

初六即將完稿上呈御覽5。 皇帝立刻命造辦處將此圖

「托紙鑲六分寬藍綾邊」處理，想必是做成了貼落，

被張貼在皇宮或御園的某座宮殿中以備時時觀覽。

僅三年後，乾隆二十五年錢氏再作《棲霞全圖》大

畫，乾隆皇帝於圖上題詩：

走筆無端寫攝山，攝山忽到眼根前。

不殊疊浪高拖嶺，宛識玲峰下有泉。

高士隱蹤昔肥遯，大家畫法此齊賢。

未來過去胥權置，且爾相於玩偶然。6

在「未來」一句下面，皇帝作注曰：「將以明年復舉

南巡之典。」觀畫的同時，憧憬著來年能夠再登棲

霞，期待之情溢於言表。 不過，第三次南巡並不如

皇帝構想的那樣在「來年」重舉，而是拖到了「後

年」。 這幅畫在乾隆三十四年被裝裱成掛軸7

，此即

台北故宮博物院藏《棲霞全圖》軸。 北京故宮博物

院另存有錢維城《棲霞山全圖》手卷一卷，與台北故

宮《棲霞全圖》軸均著錄於《石渠寶笈》。 另，《

石渠寶笈》中尚有錢維城《棲霞山圖》冊頁一套十二

幅。 至此，加上前文所述二十二年五月初六錢維城

呈覽的《棲霞山圖》，同一畫手對同一地點描繪了四

個版本的圖像，這不能不說是皇帝對此處的情有獨

鍾。 以上畫作對本文的主角——白玉御題游棲霞山

屏的創作極為重要，因為它們的畫面特徵直接影響

了乾隆三十五年纂成之《南巡盛典》木刻本《棲霞

寺圖》，而後者與白玉御題游棲霞山屏的對應關係

是一目了然的，只是同一畫面在木刻和玉料兩種材

Fig. 3 Pale green jade ‘Qixia Shan’ boulder, Qianlong period, Palace Museum, Beijing

圖3 清乾隆 青玉棲霞全圖山子 北京故宮博物院藏

20 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

白玉御題遊棲霞山屏形成了一立體一平面的視覺差

異，同是宮廷陳設，帶來了不同的觀賞體驗。 無獨

有偶，乾隆四十一年，兩淮鹽政伊齡阿向宮廷進貢

「御製棲霞詩玉山一件」9

。 由此可知，棲霞主題玉

山子在清宮中並不鮮見，而且經兩淮鹽政入貢本身，

也說明了此類作品應當都是熟悉本地風物的吳工所

為，這為我們探究白玉御題游棲霞山屏的來源和工匠

提供了一個可資借鑒的方向。 當然，白玉御題游棲

霞山屏背後的兩首御製詩完全復寫皇帝筆法，形神兼

備，當為清宮御書處的專門刻手所為。

白玉御題游棲霞山屏是乾隆時代玉屏類陳設中的精

品。 北京故宮博物院保存有與之相類的玉屏多面，

且多以插屏形式出現。 如青玉雕老子進關圖插屏、

青玉山水漁樵圖意插屏、碧玉御題漁樵耕讀圖插屏、

白玉蘇子游赤壁圖插屏、青玉插屏等等。 這說明，

乾隆朝此類寫景玉屏在宮廷陳設中已經形成了類型化

的製作傳統，白玉御題游棲霞山屏當年也應為一件配

有木製屏座的插屏而陳設在宮殿之中。 值得注意的

是，前引故宮插屏裡被定名為「青玉插屏」的一件（

文物號故00103186），與白玉御題游棲霞山屏應有

十分密切的關係。 此件青玉插屏前後兩面均雕有圖

案，故宮方面似乎並未明瞭其圖像含義而對其定名流

於簡單。 細察畫面並所附御製詩不難發現，此插屏

的前後景致竟然表現的是棲霞山的兩處景觀——紫峰

閣與九株松，此二景當然也出現在白玉御題游棲霞

山屏中。 通過對比，二者可以完全建立畫面的對應

關係：白玉御題游棲霞山屏中紫峰閣及其附近的棲霞

寺、無量殿、舍利塔比青玉插屏的畫面放大得更清

晰、更直觀; 白玉御題游棲霞山屏中被約略表現的

九株松則被青玉插屏予以一一示現。 二者一遠觀，

一近看，妙趣橫生。 兩件作品當年在宮廷中的聯繫

毋庸置疑。 照常理推測，皇帝中意之棲霞名勝不下

十景之多，此類分景插屏亦應製作多面，與白玉御題

游棲霞山屏之間形成分景圖與全景圖的對應關係，

至於其他分景圖插屏是否存世，有待進一步挖掘整

理。 所以，從繪畫到木板，從玉山子到玉插屏，從

全景圖到分景圖，如此一而再、再而三地寫畫並鐫刻

棲霞圖景10，誠應了乾隆皇帝對這裡「第一金陵明秀

山」的讚美。

可以想見，當乾隆四十九年末次南巡迴鑾之後，南國

勝景今生不再相見，乾隆皇帝發出的「六度南巡止，

他年夢寐遊」11的喟嘆，應該可以通過這些超越時空

的畫作、山子和插屏而得到不間斷的心裡補償和精

神昇華吧。

1 （清）弘曆：《御製詩二集》卷十四《南巡記》。

2 （清）弘歷：《御製詩二集》卷十四《南巡記》。

3 （清）弘歷：《御製文二集》卷十《安瀾園記》。

4 （清）弘歷：《御製詩二集》卷七十一《遊棲霞山》。

5 中國第一歷史檔案館、香港中文大學文物館編：《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總彙》

第23冊，第11頁，乾隆二十二年各作成做活計清檔，造辦處活計庫：「五月初六

日，太監董五經來說：『首領桂元交宣紙錢維城棲霞山圖畫一張。 '傳旨：著托紙

鑲六分寬藍綾邊，欽此。」

6 （清）弘歷：《御製詩三集》卷二《題錢維城棲霞山圖疊舊作遊棲霞山韻》。

7 中國第一歷史檔案館、香港中文大學文物館編：《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總彙》

第32冊，第494頁，乾隆三十四年各作成做活計清檔，造辦處活計庫：「十九日接

得郎中李文照押貼一件，內開三月初二日董五經交...... 錢維城棲霞全圖山水畫一

張...... 傳旨...... 御題錢維城山水畫一張...... 裝裱掛軸...... 欽此。」

8 （清）弘歷：《御製詩三集》卷二十三《遊棲霞山》。

9 中國第一歷史檔案館、香港中文大學文物館編：《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總匯》

第40冊，第102頁，乾隆四十一年宮中檔簿：「三月初九日，兩淮鹽政伊齡阿進御

製棲霞詩玉山一件...... 奉旨著伊差人送京交英廉。」

10 棲霞主題文物，北京故宮博物院還有方琮畫山水王際華書游攝山棲霞寺詩成

扇、御製過棲霞嶺詩墨等等多種，本文不一一例舉。

11 （清）弘歷：《御製詩五集》卷五《駐蹕安瀾園三疊前韻六首》之六。

Fig. 4.1 & 4.2 Front and back of pale green jade table screen, QiVlong period, Palace Museum, Beijing

圖 4.1及4.2 清 青玉插屏正反面 北京故宮博物院藏

21

An important imperial gilt-inscribed pale celadon and russet jade

'Qixia Mountain' table screen,

Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

3501

of rectangular shape, one side meticulously carved in

relief with a mountain landscape, intricately rendered

with pavilions and temples nestled amidst the trees,

the sky gilt-incised with clouds, the reverse inscribed

with two imperial poems praising Mount Qixia in

Nanjing, signed yuti (imperially inscribed), with a

circular seal mark and squared seal mark reading

Qian and Long

l. 24.2 cm

PROVENANCE

A European private collection.

Christie's London, 10th May 2016, lot 40.

來源：

歐洲私人收藏

倫敦佳士得2016年5月10日，編號40

御製詩：

第一金陵明秀山 所欣初遇足空前

畫屏雲罨紫峰閣 乳竇春淙白鹿泉

梵業鐫碑尚隋代 淨因舍宅自齊賢

更誰鑿壁名紗帽 只恐平原意未然

棲霞名寺遂名山 點竄寧因字句間

藥草攝生何不可 乳泉滌慮恰宜閒

偶來尋勝非耽靜 敢懈觀民正憶艱

樸斲行宮居信宿 對時摛藻我猶閑

御題

「乾」圓印、「隆」方印

清乾隆 御製青白玉描金 「棲霞秋色」圖座屏

HK$ 1,500,000-1,800,000

US$ 192,000-230,000

24 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

that Wu Erfu from Yixing had \"a natural couch made

from ancient tree roots, surprisingly glossy and clear.

It's really a treasure of a mountain retreat.\" Wang

even lamented, \"It's a pity I can't draw paintings for it!\"

These records clearly demonstrate the widespread

use of root wood furniture among the literary circles of

Jiangnan.

In the Ming dynasty, there was an exceptional example

of root wood craftsmanship, known as the legendary

root wood \"Liuyun\" raft-shaped couch (liuyuncha),

now housed in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Made

from natural tree roots, it is monumental, measuring

approximately 320 cm in length, 257 cm in width, and

86.5 cm in height. It bears two seal script characters,

\"Liuyun\" inscribed by the Ming calligrapher Zhao

Yiguang. Notably, it also includes annotations by

Dong Qichang, Chen Jiru, Ruan Yuan, the Owner

of Ban Garden, and Wangyan Hengyong. It is said

that the renowned No. One scholar Kang Hai in the

Ming dynasty once resided in Yangzhou and built the

Kangshan Cottage (Kangshan Caotang). The \"Liuyun\"

raft-shaped couch

was originally part

of the furnishings

in the cottage. In

the Qing Dynasty,

Jiang Heting

purchased it at a

high price. When

the Qianlong

Emperor traveled

to Jiangnan, he

saw this furniture

by the Slender

West Lake in

Yangzhou and composed a poem titled Enjoying the

Garden, which remarked, \"Accidentally encounter

added pleasure, in a realm of water and bamboo.

I can take it to Pengze Lake, and it is celebrated in

Yangzhou from now on. It looks like rugged rocks,

as the corridor winding. Leaning on the wood couch

Liuyun, I joyfully meet the calligrapher Yiguang.\" The

emperor explained in the notes, \"The wood couch in

the pavilion is of primitive simplicity, carved with two

characters 'Liuyun' written by Zhao Yiguang, along

with annotations attributed to Dong Qichang and

Chen Jiru. Although the annotations are considered

to be spurious, it is still quite peasant and enjoyable.\"

These words indicate the emperor's great affection

for it. Subsequently, Wanyan Linqing and Ruan

Yuan traveled here and discovered an ancient tree

root hidden in the dust, revealing faint inscriptions.

After \"brushing it with water, it was confirmed to be

the original Liuyun couch\". Ruan Yuan purchased

and restored it, then presented it as a gift to

Root wood is a general term of wood materials,

including various naturally curved or shaped roots

(or branches). Some can be used independently for

making instruments, others can be cut, chiselled,

connected, or spliced to make artefacts. The best

work should be a harmonious whole without any

traces of artificial modification, as if it naturally grew

like this. Common materials include cypress, elm,

Lagerstroemia and other roots. This chair is very

special as it is made of rattan, reflecting a sense of wild

and natural grace.

The Ming Dynasty, especially the Jiaqing and

Wanli periods, marked the peak of China's highseating furniture system, which boasts scientific

and ergonomic structures and designs, exquisite

craftsmanship, as well as artistic and practical

elements. Root wood, as an extraordinary material

transcending conventional furniture, was highly

favoured by literati. When Gao Lian recorded the

leaning table, he mentioned a friend named Wu Popiao

who had a unique table: \"It has a tree-like wrinkled

skin, delicate and

twisted surface,

a strange threelegged shape, and

a smooth, glossy

texture as if it

were yellow jade.

He often brought

it along with him

during his travels,

regarding it as a

precious treasure\".

Wu Popiao, also

known as Wu

Ruren, with courtesy name Shaojun, sobriquet Popiao

Daoren, Lanheshang, Xuantie, Yuantie Daoren, and

Chi Songshan Daoshi, was a native of Jinhua, Zhejiang

province, was active in the Jiaqing and Wanli period.

He had close ties with the literati of Jiangnan such as

Gao Lian, Li Rihua, Dong Qichang, Chen Jiru, Wang

Luoyu, and Shen Mingchen. He was skillful and adept

at making burl wood instruments, \"leaning on curved

wooden tables and appreciating tree root stoves\". In

Shen Mingchen's poem Two Quatrains to Wu Shaojun

Living in the Floating Dream Hall, it says, \"The root

wood table is perfect for leaning and singing, eclipsing

the red jade dragons ridden by immortals.\" He

explained in the notes that Wu Ruren \"often brings a

copper pan, a root wood table, and a rattan cane with

him\", illustrating his deep passion for tree root and burl

wood artifacts. Additionally, Wen Zhenheng's Treatise

on Superfluous Things mentioned natural tables

\"made from ancient tree roots\". And the calligraphy

and painting collector Wang Keyu's Coral Net recorded

AN EXTREMELY RARE RATTAN-AND-ROOT-WOOD

MEDITATION CHAIR OF THE QING DYNASTY

“The Imperial Workshop made numerous

records about the production, repair,

presentation, arrangement, and storage of

root wood furniture. Examples include thrones,

arhat beds, painting tables, zither stands,

round tables, armchairs, etc., forming complete

sets that predominantly date back to the

Yongzheng and Qianlong eras.”

28 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

The historical documentation from the Canton

Furniture Workshop (Guangmuzuo) in the fifth month

of the sixteenth year of Qianlong's reign provides

evidence of the production of root wood furniture by

the esteemed Imperial Workshop. The records contain

not only modifications or reconstructions of tree-root

elm throne bed, root wood thrones, root wood arhat

thrones, natural round incense stands, and Yunqiu

root wood rectangular tables, but also the production

of root wood embroidered stools and chairs. The

production involves alterations such as removing

armrests or backrests, adding embellishments or

footrests, adjusting heights, or reusing old materials.

Even tree-root pencil holders were used to create

root wood furniture. In cases of insufficient materials,

requests were made to Li Shengwu, who was then

the Governor of Gansu. This underscores the value

placed on root wood. It took a year to make these

root wood furniture, showing the emperor's profound

interest in their creation. For instance, in the twentyseventh year of Qianlong’s reign, the tree-root throne

in Nanchang Hall of the Jiexiu Mountain Villa was taken

on for renovation. The Qianlong Emperor specifically

Linqing. Linqing detailed this story in his Records of

Serendipitous Encounters, accompanied by woodcut

illustrations. Two records in this book, Brushing the

Raft at Kangshan and A Portrait of Huanwen have

pictures of the Liuyun couch. The book once had

colored paintings on paper, which are now housed in

the National Museum of China. Exquisitely painted, the

picture of A Portrait of Huanwen is a vivid portrayal of

Liuyun couch.

Root wood furniture was favored by literati and also

loved by emperors of the Qing dynasty. The Qianlong

Emperor composed poems for Liuyun rafted-shaped

couch. The Imperial Workshop made numerous

records about the production, repair, presentation,

arrangement, and storage of root wood furniture.

Examples include thrones, arhat beds, painting tables,

zither stands, round tables, armchairs, etc., forming

complete sets that predominantly date back to the

Yongzheng and Qianlong eras. Furthermore, root

wood furniture frequently appeared in court paintings,

as evidenced by the root wood incense stand and

root wood couch depicted in the painting Portraits of

Emperor Yinzhen's Consorts.

Fig. 1-1 & 1-2 A qiangjin cinnabar lacquer cabinet and its sticker, Early Qing dynasty, Palace Museum, Beijing

圖1-1及1-2 清早期紅漆彩繪戗金纏枝蓮螭龍紋架格一對之一及黃簽 北京故宮博物院藏

29

in Fragrant Hills, Qingke Pavilion and Garden of

Harmonious Interests (xieyuyuan) in the Summer

Palace, Lianhua Room in the North Sea (Beihai),

Siyong Study of the Old Summer Palace, Jiexiu

Mountain Villa, Zhaokuang Pavilion in the Auspicious

Elegance Hall (Yulinglongguan), Siyi Study in Anlan

Garden, Fuwang Pavilion of the Palace of Tranquil

Longevity (Shouninggong), and the Mountain Resort

in Chengde.

This meditation chair is 82 cm wide, 73 cm deep and

80 cm high, with the shape similar to a chair with

half-height backrest (zhebeiyang) or a horseshoeback armchair (quanyi). Its main body is composed

of four rattans, with an extremely curving and twisting

structure: one strip of rattan forms the upper half

of the top rail (danao), armrests and front legs; one

forms the lower half of the top rail and hind legs; one

is ringing around the chair face; and one connects the

chair seat and the four legs; and the rest serves as a

stretcher to hold the chair seat, which is a must for

the structure of the chair. Then the meditation chair

takes its shape. It seems complex, but is actually

simple. When you

appreciate the

work, you find

that it would never

appear without

wise thoughts,

skillful hands and

a good taste. The

rattan components

connected in

parallel are

reinforced with dowels; those intersected are

connected with the mortise-and-tenon joints, as if

they are integrated as a whole. If you do not watch

it carefully, you might think it is made from only one

curved strip of rattan. The rattan has gone through

many years with shiny and smooth surface, reflecting

the patina of age. The cracks and twisted branches

are like calligraphy written by a half-dry brush; and the

lively and sinuous shape are reminiscent of the wild

cursive script of Zhang Xu and Huaisu (calligraphers in

the Tang dynasty).

In addition to rattan, cypress root wood are used for

making several components, such as front spandrels (jiaoya), arm support stick (liangbanggun), backrest

and four-foot pads. They are made of cypress roots

with smooth and jade-like patina. The component of

the backrest is protruding like towering cliffs of porous

Taihu stone, with grotesque and uneven rocks and

holes like moon flying in the sky. Its upper and lower

parts are also cleverly connected with the main body

of the meditation chair through dowels and mortiseand-tenon joints. In general, for backrests of a root

named the skilled craftsman from Ruyi Hall, Huang

Zhao and two Guangdong craftsmen to handle the

modifications. In the twenty-ninth year of the Qianlong

reign, Huang Zhaotong was tasked with making a

series of three connected niches from tree-root. In the

forty-seventh year of Qianlong’s reign, a directive was

given to Huang Zhao and Qiu Zhongxin from the Ruyi

Hall to transform a tree-root arhat bed and placed it in

Rehe after completion. Huang Zhao was a craftsman

from the Ruyi Hall sent by the Guangdong Customs

Supervisor Shuo Se in the fourteenth year of the

Qianlong's reign. Based on the records of his frequent

involvement in the creation of tree-root thrones, he

must be a master in this craft. Besides the Imperial

Workshop, Suzhou also took on the production of

root wood furniture. For instance, in the sixteenth

year of the Qianlong’s reign, the chief of Suzhou

Weaving Department Anning presented four tree-root

thrones. In the seventeenth year of Qianlong’s reign,

he delivered eighteen chairs. Apart from production,

maintenance was also required for root wood

furniture. In the eighteenth year of Qianlong’s reign, for

example, the exposed parts of the tree-root high table

in the Qianchixue

Hall were ordered

to repair with treeroot materials to

achieve a natural

look. The surfaces

of root wood

furniture were

predominantly

constructed with

materials like Yunqiu wood and nanmu. For example,

in the seventeenth year of Qianlong’s reign, the nanmu

surface of the tree-root high table in the Qianchixue

Hall was replaced with Yunqiu wood, reducing its

length by six inches and width by three inches.

Moreover, in the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong’s

reign, there is a record of a tree-root throne from the

Siyong Study being stained with the color of zitan

wood. Within the category of zitan furniture, there

were also carvings imitating the appearance of treeroots. In the nineteenth year of Qianlong , Governor He

Nian presented a zitan tree-root throne, zitan tree-root

writing desk, and zitan tree-root chairs inlaid with ivory

floral design. They were all furnishings simulating the

effect of root wood with precious materials, further

revealing the emperor's strong preference for such

designs. The records also suggest that palace treeroot beds were often paired with snowflake brocade

mattresses.

Root wood furniture was prominently displayed in

imperial gardens, such as the Shuqing Hall in Yingtai,

Fangsheng Pavilion, Qianchixue Hall, Biyun Temple

“The Imperial Workshop's production of root

wood furniture is best exemplified by the

records of the Canton Furniture Workshop

(Guangmuzuo) in the sixteenth year (the fifth

month) of Qianlong’s reign.”

30 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

dynasty, its origin is more likely to be influenced by

the French \"Boulle Marquetry\". Boulle Marquetry is

a technique mastered by Pierre Gole, a French court

furniture artisan during Louis XIV, and influenced by

Dutch joinery. From the 17th century to the beginning

of the 18th century, both the Kangxi Emperor and

Louis XIV were great monarchs in the East and West

respectively. The two countries had frequent cultural,

artistic and other exchanges, and sent each other gifts.

Therefore, the court arts of both sides were affected

mutually. Distinctive Western styles can be found in

the shape, pattern and even technique of the Qing

court furniture, which can be proved by records of the

Qing Imperial Workshops on imitation and learning

from Western instruments and patterns. Likewise, the

three-curved-leg style in France in Louis XIV's reign is

obviously influenced by Chinese furniture.

The reverse of the seating board is made of cypress

wood, supported with two penetrating transverse

braces (chuandai) of oval cross section. There is a

yellow label on the baseplate, which reads \"Huifang

Academy\" (huifang shuyuan) in regular script. Huifang

Academy is included in the 40 views of the Old

Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan). The font is neat

and beautiful, obviously written by a calligrapher who

often engaged in recording and transcription. Among

the survived Qing court furniture, it's very rare to see

wood meditation chair and throne, the priority is given

to imagery rather than comfort of use. This chair is

not suitable for leaning on, so when one sits on it, he

or she has to sit upright. Is it made intentionally for

the purpose of reminding meditators of behaving with

integrity and steadfast faith when being caught in a

dilemma?

The seat board is crafted meticulously. Unlike the wild

and stark main body of rattan, it combines elegance

and wilderness, tenseness and relaxation, just like

the way of regular script. It adopts the practice of

assembling a mortised-and-tenoned frame with

floating panel (zankuang) and rounded corner designs

on the interior or exterior of edges; especially the large

internal fillet, echoing the overall round shape. Made

from cypress root wood, it is fine and smooth as skin.

The seating board is decorated with bubujin-andswastika-patterned patchwork veneer (bainaxiang).

It is also made of cypress wood, probably select

cypress burls, as the texture is fine and irregular. The

decoration of diaper-patterned patchwork veneer

is a craft popular in the court of the Qing dynasty,

especially during the Qianlong’s reign. Although

the technique of piecing and inlaying materials into

various patterns could be found in ancient China and

it is similar to the craft of one-hundred- preciousmaterial inlay (baibaoqian) popular in the Ming

Fig. 2 Anonymous, Elegant Gathering of Song Literati, Song dynasty, Palace Museum, Taipei (detail)

圖2 宋佚名《宋人雅集圖》局部 台北故宮博物院藏 31

Tang Yin of the Ming dynasty (housed in Sichuan

Museum), and Eighteen Scholars of the Ming dynasty

(housed in the Palace Museum in Taipei). In general,

three-side-open chairs were commonly seen in

the Song and Yuan dynasties, then backrests were

added in the Ming dynasty. However, the practice

of aligning three sides of the armrests and backrest

hadn’t changed. Most of them were used by sages

and hermits. Unluckily, such chairs are very rare and

only one or two ones have been handed down to the

present time. This meditation chair can be regarded

as a variant of the chair with half-height backrest, from

which we can see the maker's manufacturing idea

of learning from the ancients. From the image data,

chairs with half-height backrests were widely used

during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and in the Ming

dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, they mainly appeared in

paintings depicting hermits, literati or monks, but were

rarely seen in the secular world.

Root wood

instruments are

different from

semi-processed

natural objects

during the

Neolithic period.

They are conscious

choices by humans

towards natural

forms after getting

away from the

stage of simple

utilization of

natural objects

and being able to

make tools with exquisite craftsmanship. In their early

stage, they might serve as tools to communicate with

gods and nature, with a mysterious color and religious

nature. Such furnishings can be seen in the system of

low-seating furniture. With them, people could sit on

the ground. The painted lacquer leaning table (pingji)

(Fig. 4) unearthed from the Warring States Tomb

No. 2 at Jiuliandun in Zaoyang, Hubei province was

made from a randomly shaped branch. It has three

branches as legs, and other two as beast heads, one

long and one short, like a small beast walking with its

head raised. Its unusual decoration is imbued with a

strong mysterious color, causing people to imagine

whether the strange beast is about to transform into

a branch, or the branch is transforming into a strange

beast. The method of making leaning tables with root

wood lasted for more than 2,000 years almost without

interruption, including Bai Juyi's \"leaning table made of

twisted trees\". Such tables were still used in the Ming

yellow label affixed for location. But there are also a

few cases, such as a pair of gilt-incised (qiangjin) red

lacquer \"lotus and hornless dragon\" painted shelving

units (The Complete Collection of Ming and Qing

Furniture in the Palace Museum · 14 · Shelving Cabinet

Coffer Chest) (No. 12, P. 98-113), with a yellow label of

\"shelving unit in the south of the second west room of

Joyful Longevity Hall (Leshoutang)…\" on the back of

the door (Fig. 1-1, Fig. 1-2), and a pair of black lacquer

\"flower\" painted treasure chests inlaid with motherof-pearl (duobaoge) (The Complete Collection of Ming

and Qing Furniture in the Palace Museum · 14 · Shelving

Cabinet Coffer Chest) (No. 33) with a yellow label of

\"Fragrant Garden Residence (Fangyuanju)\", located

in the Mountain Resort in Chengde. The yellow label

can be seen on some low tables (Kangzhuo) and other

small furniture. It is easy to speculate that when indoor

furniture was moved for decoration needs, a yellow

label was affixed to mark the original location for

subsequent restoration or handling.

The shape of this

chair is similar to

the chair with halfheight backrest

or the horseshoeback armchair. The

so-called \"chair

with half-height

backrest\" was seen

in Zixia Records

- Holding Couch (chengchuang) by

Li Kuangyi in the

late Tang Dynasty.

Images of the chair

with half-height backrest can be seen in paintings and

prints of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, such as

Elegant Gathering of Song Literati by an anonymous

artist of the Song dynasty (Fig. 2, housed in the Palace

Museum in Taipei), Reading in the Mountain Pavilion

by Liu Songnian of the Song dynasty (housed in the

Palace Museum in Beijing), Four Whiteheads of Mount

Shang and Nine Respected Elders in Huichang by an

anonymous artist of the Song dynasty, Arhats by an

anonymous artist of the Song dynasty (housed in the

Palace Museum in Taipei), Illustration of \"Illustrated

Manual of Anup\" by Wang Weiyi of the Song dynasty,

(block-printed edition of Chen's family, the year

of dading bingwu, the Jin Dynasty )(1186), Elegant

Gathering in the Apricot Garden by Xie Huan in the

Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty, Appreciating

Antiquities in the Bamboo Garden (Fig. 3, housed in

the Palace Museum in Beijing) by Qiu Ying of the Ming

dynasty, Enjoying the Evening Cool at Xu Pavilion by

“There is a yellow label on the baseplate, which

reads \"Huifang Academy\" (huifang shuyuan)

in regular script. Huifang Academy is included

in the 40 views of the Old Summer Palace

(Yuanmingyuan). The font is neat and beautiful,

obviously written by a calligrapher who often

engaged in recording and transcription. Among

the survived Qing court furniture, it's very rare

to see yellow label affixed for location.”

32 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

and table structures derived from beam frameworks.

In Buddhist and Taoist paintings, especially in those

depicting Arhats, root wood furniture appeared more

frequently. In Yan Liben's scroll painting Xiao Yi Wisely

Getting the Calligraphy of Preface to the Orchid Pavilion

from the Tang Dynasty (fig. 5) which passed down

to today, the Zen master Biancai seated on a large

meditation chair made of natural tree roots. From

the imitation copies from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and

Qing dynasties I have seen, it can be seen that the

root wood meditation chair is faithfully painted. This

demonstrates the authenticity of its origin, suggesting

that by the Tang Dynasty, this type of large-scale

root wood furniture had already been in use. Even in

paintings and prints from the Ming and Qing dynasties,

Zen monks almost always seated on large meditation

chairs made from root wood. It has almost become

a \"standard\" depiction of Zen monks in this type

of artwork, indicating its wide dissemination and

significant influence. The meditation chair described

herein is just one aspect of this broader context.

[1] (Tang) Li Kuangwen: \"Zixia Records\", Vol. B Chairs, P. 207-208, Romance of

Su: Three Miscellaneous, Series of Historical Materials Notes of the Tang and

Song Dynasties, Zhonghua Book Company, 2012.

and Qing dynasties. As the Eight Treatises on Following

the Principles of Life recorded, \"The leaning table is

made of twisted wood like half of a circular belt. It is

peculiar to find the one with three branches as legs.\"

Since the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties, influenced by

the spirits of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism,

as well as self-cultivation through the appreciation of

the nature, literati and scholars participated in politics

and cared about the society while longing to immerse

themselves in the beauty of mountains and rivers.

It's the contradiction or transformation between the

visible and the hidden in terms of self-discipline. When

it turns to objects, it's the difference between the

standardized and orderly ritual vessels and the wild

and unconventional vessels. Instruments made of root

wood embodied the essence of forests and springs,

with an aesthetic emphasis placed on the appreciation

of natural forms. As a result, whether in imperial court

or secluded mountain villas, such instruments were in

use, representing a pursuit of purity and the yearning

for an ideal lifestyle.

From the Sui and Tang dynasties onwards, the lowseating furniture system of sitting with feet down

on the ground gradually formed. Representative

examples include stools derived from the rope couch

Fig. 3 Qiu Qing, Appreciating Antiquities in the Bamboo Garden, Ming

dynasty, Palace Museum, Beijing (detail)

圖3 明 仇英《竹林品古圖》局部 北京故宮博物院藏

33

瑩潤如玉。 其靠背處突兀一塊，岩巒四出，窪隆起

伏，遍佈褶皺嵌空，又有陂陀拽腳、山崖掛月，頗似

一塊雄偉的太湖石立峰。 上下方亦巧妙地通過銷釘、

插接等榫卯方式與禪椅主體相連。 一般天然木所製禪

椅、寶座等靠背，多以意向為先，有時會忽視使用時

的舒適性，此椅甚至是不便倚靠，坐於其上，不得不

正襟危坐，莫不是故意為此？ 提醒參禪打坐者，

若處深山懸崖、進退維谷之景，只有守身立正、心如

止水，才得方便。

座面做法細緻工整，一絲不苟，與藤質主體野逸風格

不同，宛若楷書，文野相合，張弛之道。 採用攢框

做法，內外圓角，尤其是內圓角甚大，與整體圓轉造

型有呼應之處。 柏木質，細膩光潔如肌膚。 其內落

膛，百納鑲步步錦套卍字紋為座面，亦為柏木，紋路

細膩扭結，應是特意選用柏木瘿瘤部分製成。 百納

鑲錦地紋裝飾手法是清代宮廷尤其是乾隆時期慣用的

一種工藝，這種拼嵌材料以成圖案的手法，雖然在中

國古代亦可找到蹤跡，明代時興起的百寶嵌工藝亦與

之有相近處，但其源流，更有可能受法國「布爾式鑲

嵌」（Boulle Marquetry）鑲嵌工藝影響。 布爾式

鑲嵌是法國路易

十四時宮廷傢俱師

Pierre Gole所擅，

源頭應是受荷蘭細

木工的影響。 17

世紀至18世紀初，

康熙皇帝與路易十

四各為東西方的偉

大君主，兩國在文

化、藝術等方面交

流頗多，並曾互贈

禮物，雙方的宮廷

藝術受到對方的一定影響，清代宮廷傢俱的造型、圖

案乃至工藝，有一些確實可以找到明顯的西洋風格，

清宮造辦處有關仿製和借鑒西洋器具、紋飾的記載亦

可佐證，而法國諸如路易十四時期的三彎腿造型等，

又顯然有中國傢俱的影子。

座屜底以柏木為托板，附兩根橢圓截面的穿帶。 底板

上貼有黃簽，楷書「匯芳書院」四字，圓明園四十景

有匯芳書院。 字體秀麗工整，顯然是經常從事記錄、

謄抄的擅書者筆跡。 清宮遺存傢俱中，貼黃簽標識

方位的做法非常罕見，但也見有數例，如紅漆彩繪戧

金纏枝蓮螭龍紋架格一對（《故宮博物院藏明清傢俱

全集·14·格櫃櫥箱》件12，第98-113頁），櫃門

後貼有「樂壽堂西次間南邊櫃子......」 黃簽（圖1-1

、1-2），黑漆螺鈿彩繪花卉紋多寶格一對（《故宮

博物院藏明清傢俱全集·14·格櫃櫥箱》件33），

貼「芳園居」黃簽，芳園居位為承德避暑山莊。 其他

一些炕桌等小型傢俱上亦見有貼黃簽者。 不難推測，

其原因當是因為裝修等需求，挪移室內傢俱，貼黃簽

標識原有位置，以滿足復原或管理之需。

禪椅以天台藤為之，或得古樹根，如虯龍詰曲臃腫，

槎枒四出，可掛瓢笠及數珠、瓶、缽等器，更須瑩滑

如玉，不露斧斤為佳。

——明 文震亨《長物志》卷六「几榻」

香林古寺有籐椅，天然結構何玲瓏。

蹲踞伏地穩如象，天矯行天蟠若龍。

兩旁槎枒中廓落，十圍腰腹應能容。

聞是前明禁中物，舍歸梵剎垂無窮。

臣民睥睨不敢坐，玉皇捧處雲生紅。

護持頗得法王力，厚載門側僧撞鐘。

兵火之厄竟能避，禪床四大空非空。

金剛有身同不壞，我來欲設香花供。

——清陳作霖《香

林寺大籐椅歌》

天然木，是一種泛

稱，不拘樹種，以

自然屈曲變化、形

狀萬物的樹根（或

樹杈）為材，或獨

立成器，或通過鋸

解、雕鑿后拼接成

器，以不露斧斤為

上，渾然一體，宛

若自然生成。 常

見的材質有柏木或榆木根瘤、紫薇木等，此例甚為特

殊，為藤製，野逸之氣更加濃厚。

禪椅寬82釐米、深73釐米、高80釐米，造型介於折

背樣和圈椅之間，主體由四根藤組成，極盡迴環盤

繞之能事：其搭腦上半、扶手、前腿為一根，搭腦下

半、後腿為一根，椅面邊緣一週一根，下盤連接座面

與四足者一根，餘則前方另設一藤為棖，托住座面，

為結構之必須，基本上整個禪椅已經成形。 看似複

雜，實則簡單，然後細細品味，非有哲思、巧手，

非有高潔品味，不能為此。 藤質構件之間，相並處以

銷釘加固，交錯處以插接的榫卯相連，貴其製作宛如

一體，倘若不仔細觀看，還以為是一根藤屈曲生長而

成。 其所用藤，不知有多少歲月，包漿瑩潤，皮殼油

亮如漆，兼有皴裂，配合絞轉的枝幹，如同書法的飛

白，而其顛倒迴環、欲去還留之形態，與張旭、懷素

筆下奇詭的草書，頗有相通之處。

藤製之外，另有幾個構件由柏木天然木製成，為前方

角牙、聯幫棍、靠背及四足墊。 選取柏木根瘤，包漿

一例有趣的清代藤製天然木禪椅「座屜底板上貼有黃簽，楷書「匯芳

書院」四字，圓明園四十景有匯芳

書院。 字體秀麗工整，顯然是經

常從事記錄、謄抄的擅書者筆跡。

清宮遺存傢俱中，貼黃簽標識方位

的做法非常罕見。」

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做法未曾改變，其出現的場所，則多是先賢、高士所

用，惜這種造型的椅具，傳世甚為罕見，所見僅一二

例而已，此禪椅不妨視之為折背樣的一種變體，

亦可見製者慕古而化的成器思想。 從圖像資料看，

折背樣椅在宋至元時使用較廣，明代延續，清代所見

者零星，多出現在表現高士、文人、僧侶等主題的繪

畫中，並非世俗所習見。

天然木器具與新石器時期半加工的自然物不同，是人

類在擺脫簡單利用自然物階段，可以精細加工器具

后，對自然形態有意識的選擇。 早期或偏向於溝通神

靈、自然的道具，具有神秘色彩，有一定的宗教性。

傢俱實例而言，在席地而坐的低型傢俱體系中已有所

見。 湖北棗陽九連墩2號戰國墓出土一件彩繪漆憑几

（圖4），便是以一段隨形枝杈製成，以三枝為足，

歧出一長一短獸頭，宛若一個昂頭行走的小獸。 其怪

異的裝飾附著了濃厚的神秘色彩，不知是異獸要幻化

為樹枝，還是樹枝正在幻化為異獸。 這種天然木為憑

几的做法，綿延兩千余年，幾未中斷，包括白居易的

「蟠木几」，明清時尚有使用，《遵生八笺》：

「隱几，以怪樹天生屈曲。 若環帶之半者，為之。

有橫生三丫作足為奇。 」

此椅的造型，介於折背樣椅和圈椅之間。 所謂折背樣

椅，見於晚唐李匡乂《資暇集》「承床」：

近者繩床，皆短其倚衡，曰『折背樣』。 言高不過

背之半，倚必將仰，脊不遑縱。 亦由中貴人創意也。

蓋防至尊賜坐，雖居私第，不敢傲逸其體，常習恭

敬之儀。 士人家不窮其意，往往取樣而製，不亦乖

乎。[1]

明代的折背樣又有高士椅之稱，《留青日札》載：

「今之高士椅，即古之繩床，所謂折背樣者是也。 」

折背樣椅的形象在宋元明時期繪畫、版畫中可以見

到，如宋佚名《宋人雅集圖》（圖2 台北故宮博物院

藏）、宋劉松年《山館讀書圖》 （故宮博物院藏）、

宋佚名《商山四皓會昌九老圖》、宋佚名《羅漢圖》

（台北故宮博物院藏）、宋王惟一《新刊補注銅人腧

穴針灸圖經》插圖（金大定丙午（1186年）陳氏刻

本）、明正統謝環《杏園雅集圖》、明仇英《竹林品

古圖》（圖3 故宮博物院藏）、明唐寅《虛閣圖晚涼

圖》（四川博物院藏）、明佚名《十八學士圖》

（台北故宮博物院藏）等，大體來說， 宋元多三面

敞空，明代則多增設靠背，但扶手、靠背三面平齊的

Fig. 4 Black and cinnabar lacquer ‘chilong’ armrest, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, excavated from Hubei Province, China

圖4 戰國彩繪漆憑几湖北棗陽九連墩2號墓出土

35

成了此類圖畫中禪僧的「標配」，可見傳播之廣，

影響自然也大。 而本文所述禪椅，自是其餘緒。

明代尤其是明代嘉萬時期，是中國高型傢俱體系的高

峰，結構、造型科學合理，工藝精湛，兼備藝術性與

實用型，天然木這種跳出常規傢俱範疇的「逸品」，

甚受文人青睞，高濂記隱幾時，還提到友人吳破瓢有

一几，「樹形皺皮，花細屈曲，奇怪三足，天然摩弄

瑩滑，疑若黃玉。 此老攜以遨遊，珍稀若寶」。

吳破瓢即吳孺人，字少君，號破瓢道人、懶和尚、

玄鐵、元鐵道人、赤松山道士，浙江金華人，嘉、

萬時人，與高濂、李日華、董其昌、陳繼儒、汪砢

玉、沈明臣等江南文士過往甚密，手巧，擅以瘿木為

器，「擁曲木几，摩樹根爐」。 沈明臣作《吳少君寓

浮夢館寄以絕句二首》有「天然木几堪憑嘯，勝跨仙

人赤玉虯」句，並注吳孺人「每以銅鐺、天然几、

萬歲藤杖自隨」，儼然一個對樹根瘿瘤器具嗜好入骨

的方外形象。 此外，文震亨《長物志》還記天然几有

「以古樹根承之」者，汪砢玉《珊瑚網》記義興吳二

漢魏晉以來，經歷釋儒道精神的浸潤，加以山水對人

們性靈的陶冶，文人士大夫一邊躋身朝堂，心懷天下;

另一邊又嚮往縱情山水、徜徉其間的悠悠之情，從治

身來講是顯與隱的矛盾或轉化，映射於器物，則是整

齊劃一、井然有序的鼎彝之器與放任天性、隨性而為

的野逸之器的區別。 以天然木製作的器具，存林泉之

致，對自然形態的欣賞成為其審美內涵，故自此，

無論廟堂之中，還是山林別苑，均有所用，亦是標榜

清高，東籬之想的寄託。

隋唐以降，垂足而坐的低型傢俱體系漸而確立，其中

以自繩床發展而來的椅具和自梁架結構發來的桌形結

構最為代表。 在佛道畫尤其是羅漢畫中，開始較多出

現天然木傢俱。 今傳唐閻立本《蕭翼賺蘭亭序》圖卷

中（圖5），辯才禪師便坐在一個天然樹根製成大禪

椅上，所見此畫宋、元、明、清數個摹本，皆忠實繪

製天然木大禪椅，可見所來有自，至遲在唐代這種天

然木大型傢俱已得應用。 甚至明清時期繪畫和版畫中

的禪僧形象，無不以端坐天然木大禪椅為多見，近乎

Fig. 5 Attributed to Yan Liben, Xiao Yi Wisely Getting the Calligraphy of Preface to the Orchid Pavilion

from the Tang Dynasty, Tang dynasty, Palace Museum, Taipei (detail)

圖5 （傳）唐閻立本《蕭翼賺蘭亭序》局部 台北故宮博物院

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「二十六日員外郎白世秀催總德魁來說，太監胡世傑

交廣榔木寶座床一座（隨紫檀足踏黃雨缎坐褥一件，

紅猩猩毡夾墊一件，毡一塊），天然寶座一座，羅漢

寶座一座，英雄香几一件，天然元香几二件，長方小

桌一張，黑漆石面元繡墩二件，傳旨：將寶座床上扶

手靠背去了，眼補平，天然寶座上二層痰盂托亦不

要，天然元香几二件照樣添面子改繡墩四件， 其餘羅

漢寶座等俱各收拾好呈進，欽此。

於六月初十日員外郎白世秀催總德魁來說太監胡世傑

交樹根筆筒一件（隨木座）傳旨：做繡墩用，欽此。

於九月十二日員外郎白世秀達子將樹根廣榔木寶座一

座，天然樹根寶座一座，樹根羅漢寶座一座，沉香英

雄香几一件，雲秋木面樹根長方小桌一張，天然元香

几一件（改得四件坯）俱持進交太監胡世傑呈□雲秋

木長方高桌一張，奉旨：天然□几照樹根桌子樣做小

繡墩四件，本來面子如用得即用，如用不得照桌子面

用雲秋木做，雲秋木高桌亦照樹根長方桌改做高桌一

張， 將廣榔寶座改做杌□四件，其餘寶座、香几俱粘

補齊全，再寶座、杌子、繡墩著各配做青缎、坐褥、

墊子、葛布套，

欽此。

於九月二十日員外

郎白世秀、達子將

天然元香几二件改

做繡墩四件，並收

拾好樹根寶座三

座，持進交太監胡

世傑呈覽，奉旨：

俱各著落堂□其繡

墩上添補楠木面板，欽此。

於九月十二日員外郎白世秀來說，太監胡世傑傳旨：

將交岀廣榔木寶座不必改做杌子，著做竹爐山房床掛

□一塊，欽此。

於九月二十二日員外郎白世秀將改做得天然樹根繡

墩，面上落堂添楠木板，持進交太監胡世傑，呈覽，

奉旨：圈口要改隨形，褥子亦隨形配做，再照樣做繡

墩四件，欽此。

於十月初五日員外郎白世秀將做得□樹根繡墩□持

進，交太監胡世傑呈覽，奉旨：□另做雪花錦墊，

其樹根寶座等亦俱做雪花錦褥□

於十七年正月二十八日員外郎白世秀將做得樹根高桌

一張，樹根繡墩四件（隨雪花錦墊）持進交太監胡世

傑呈覽，奉旨：將樹根高桌繡墩並收拾寶座俱在瀛䑓

清院安，將□繡墩高桌剩下的樹根再做繡墩四件，

如不足用在內尋找成做，欽此。

甫舟中「有古樹根天然榻，奇怪瑩潔，真山房珍異」

，以至於這位書畫收藏家感歎： 「惜不隨畫作媵，

殊怏怏也。 」這些均可見天然木傢俱在江南文人群體

中的廣泛應用。

在明人顧起元《客座贅語》中記錄了其人嚴賓，就是

使用天然藤傢俱的高士：

嚴賓，字子寅，號鶴丘，正嘉中為府學博士弟子，

以羣閧點齋台史，褫革之，字法米帖，粗能詩，

及畫蘭竹，所畜古法書名畫頗多，有藤床藤椅，皆藤

所成，不加寸木，又有棗根香几，天然為之，不煩鑿

削，最稱奇品。 精於煑茶，茶具皆佳妙，文人墨客多

與之遊，徃來東橋、衡山諸公之門......

明代天然木實例，以天然木流雲槎最為傳奇，今存故

宮博物院，以天然樹根製成，碩大無朋，長約320釐

米，寬約257釐米，通高約86.5釐米，上有明代書法

家趙宧光「流雲」二個篆字，又有董其昌、陳繼儒、

阮元、半園主人、完顏衡永題跋。 傳明代狀元康海

曾寓居揚州，建康山草堂，流雲槎即草堂中物，清代

時江鶴亭以千金購

之，乾隆下江南，

曾在揚州瘦西見到

此物，並賦詩《趣

園》：「偶涉亦成

趣，居然水竹鄉。

因之道彭澤，從此

擅維揚，目屬高低

石，步延曲折廊。

流雲憑木榻。 喜早

晤宧光。 」並注

「亭中木榻甚古樸，刻趙宧光題流雲二字及董其昌、

陳繼儒題語，雖屬偽作，頗愜幽賞」。 喜愛之情可見

一斑。 其後完顏麟慶與阮元遊歷故地，於塵土中發現

古樹根，隱有字跡，「拂而滌之以水，果流雲也」，

阮元購回修整，贈予麟慶，麟慶《鴻雪因緣記》詳記

其事，並附有圖畫，其中《康山拂槎》《煥文寫像》

兩記的版畫中，皆有所繪，此書版畫原有紙本彩繪冊

頁，今藏國家博物館，《 煥文寫像》一圖繪製精細，

是流雲槎傳神彩色寫照。

天然木器具既得文人青睞，也更受清代帝王喜愛，

如前所述，乾隆曾為流雲槎賦詩，而清宮造辦處關於

天然木傢俱製作、修理、進奉、陳設、貯存檔案頗

多。 實例存寶座、羅漢床、畫桌、琴几、圓几、

扶手椅等，成堂成套，多為雍正、乾隆時物。 此外，

宮廷繪畫中，天然木傢俱也頻有所見，如《胤禛妃行

樂圖》中所見天然木香几、天然木榻。

造辦處製作天然木傢俱，可舉乾隆十六年廣木作

（五月）記載最為典型：

「天然木器具既得文人青睞，也更受

清代帝王喜愛，如前所述，乾隆曾

為流雲槎賦詩，而清宮造辦處關於

天然木傢俱製作、修理、進奉、陳

設、貯存檔案頗多。」

37

牙匠黃兆同兩名廣木匠前往改造。 乾隆二十九年傳

旨著黃兆承做樹根連三龕。 乾隆四十七年又欽命如意

館黃兆、仇忠信改做一件樹根羅漢床，得時安防在熱

河。 黃兆是如意館牙匠，乾隆十四年由粵海關監督碩

色送來，從頻頻參與樹根寶座的記錄看，亦是善於此

道的名手了。 造辦處之外，蘇州也承擔天然木傢俱的

製作，如蘇州織造安寧於乾隆十六年送到樹根寶座四

座，乾隆十七年送到椅子十八張。 除了製作，天然木

傢俱亦需日常的維護，如乾隆十八年千尺雪樹根桌子

有露木頭的地方，則令人用樹根補輟，以求自然。

天然木傢俱的面，則多用雲楸木、楠木等製，

如乾隆十七年將千

尺雪所陳樹根高桌

楠木面換雲楸木，

長去六寸，寬去三

寸。 此外乾隆二十

七年還有將思永齋

樹根寶座打紫檀木

色的記載。 紫檀

製傢俱中，亦有雕

作樹根式的，乾隆

十九年巡撫鶴年進

紫檀樹根寶座、紫

檀樹根御案紫檀鑲

牙絲花卉圍紫檀樹

根椅，均是以珍貴

材料類比天然木效

果，亦側面可見帝王對之青睞程度。 檔案所記，

宮廷天然木床座則多配以雪花錦褥子。

天然木傢俱在宮廷的陳設地，以別苑為多，如瀛台的

淑清院、方勝樓、千尺雪，香山碧雲寺，頤和園清可

軒、諧趣園，北海的蓮華室，圓明園的思永齋、接秀

山房、玉玲瓏館昭曠亭、安瀾園四宜書屋，內廷的寧

壽宮符望閣，以及承德避暑山莊等。

[1] （唐）李匡文：《資暇集》卷下《承床》，頁207、208，

《蘇氏演義：外三種》，輯入《唐宋史料筆記叢刊》，中華書

局，2012年。

於十七年二月初五日四等侍衛永□進樹根香几一件

（隨樹根四塊），持進交太監胡世傑呈覽，奉旨：

造辦處改做繡墩四件，其剩下的樹根成做寶座一座，

嗣後有用樹根之活計，著行文向李繩武要用，欽此。

於十七年二月十二日員外郎白世秀將□樹根寶座二件

（隨雪花錦墊、葛布套）

歪形樹根寶座一件，並圖拉呈進樹根寶座三□（隨繡

黃缎、褥子）持進交太監胡世傑呈覽，奉旨：將歪形

寶座改做繡墩，其先交岀改做繡墩剩下之樹根桌□拉

呈進寶座上子上配做□錦套書清院用，換下寶座俱各

收著，俟有地方再

用，欽此（於十七

年二月十三日栢唐

阿□鑒將□根寶座

一座，隨墊繡墩

四件，高桌一張

送往瀛䑓書清院安

訖）。

於十七年三月二十

日員外郎白世秀將

□清院撤出樹根寶

座、高桌、繡墩並

造辦處現做繡墩、

寶座，圖拉呈進寶

座，俱持進交太監

胡世傑呈覽，奉旨：歪形寶座不必改繡墩，改做椅子

一張，腿子放高□玲瓏後背，欽此。」

此條檔案，既有樹根廣榔木寶座床、天然木寶座、

天然木羅漢寶座、天然圓香几、雲楸木天然木長方桌

的修改或改做，又有天然木繡墩、天然木椅子的製

作，或去扶手、靠背，或添面子，或落膛，或增高，

材料還有舊料改製者，甚至樹根筆筒都被拿來製作天

然木傢俱，不足的材料則向時任甘肅提督的李勝武討

要，可見對天然木的珍視。 製作前後跨時一年，

帝王於天然木傢俱製作的關心顯而易見。 再如乾隆二

十七年，接秀山房南昌廳樹根寶座，皇帝點名如意館

「天然木傢俱在宮廷的陳設地，以別

苑為多，如瀛台的淑清院、方勝

樓、千尺雪，香山碧雲寺，頤和園

清可軒、諧趣園，北海的蓮華室，

圓明園的思永齋、接秀山房、玉玲

瓏館昭曠亭、安瀾園四宜書屋，內

廷的寧壽宮符望閣，以及承德避暑

山莊等。」

38 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

匯芳書院簽條

An extremely rare imperial rootwood meditation chair,

Qing dynasty, Yongzheng - Qianlong period

3502

naturalistically formed and constructed, the organic

root oriented to form the legs, the elongated S-shaped

arms and the top rail, the vigorously gnarled roots

naturalistically formed as an irregularly shaped back

splat, tenoned into the top rail and back member of

the seat frame, the armrest supported by S-shaped

gnarled roots and branches, the seat constructed by

using the baina technique, with cypress wood cut in

the shape of the Buddhist swastika symbol, all set

within an irregular square frame, the wood of a warm

honey-brown colour

82 by 73 by h. 80 cm

PROVENANCE

A European private collection.

來源：

歐洲私人收藏

清雍正至乾隆 御用藤製天然木禪椅

HK$ 1,500,000-2,500,000

US$ 192,000-319,000

Mark

40 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

41

and admiration upon encountering this splendid jade

masterpiece.

This sizeable jade bi rests gracefully atop a base

intricately cast in bronze, depicting twin dragons

against the backdrop of sea waves. It has a height

of 54 cm, a width of 54 cm and a thickness of 21 cm

with the pedestal. The jade bi itself boasts a diameter

of 40.5 cm, a central aperture measuring 13 cm,

and a thickness of 5 cm. Crafted from green jade, its

surface remains impeccably smooth, devoid of any

imperfections. The bronze base, thoughtfully designed

to match with the jade bi, showcases elaborate

carvings that capture intricate details. Starting from

the bottom, the base presents a traditional seascape,

with waves crashing and frothing. Nestled within this

maritime scene, a celestial mountain is cradled by

the waters, protected by a pair of airborne dragons.

These dragons, lifting their heads and gazing towards

the horizon, form a protective arch over the mountain.

Graceful clouds

encircle their

forms, framing the

jade bi with an air

of grandeur. The

top of the celestial

mountain and

various parts of the

dragons' bodies

bear precisely

carved grooves

that snugly

accommodate

the jade bi.

Delicate elements

like auspicious

clouds, curved

dragon horns,

and sinuously

shaped dragon bodies emerge as captivating features,

forming an ornate external frame that seamlessly

integrates with the base. The combination of each

dragon's tail and a single claw, secured together

with a subtle clasp, forms the highest points at the

front and back of the frame. The jade bi is perfectly

aligned with the highest point of the inner rim of its

aperture. Slightly elevated from the central axis of

the bi, this position ensures a snug fit, preventing any

risk of slipping. This delicate design is a testament to

the craftsmen's ingenuity and creative prowess. The

intricate bronze base, adorned with lifelike details,

is in stark contrast to the smooth, deep green of the

jade bi, resulting in a visually arresting item. A more

nuanced examination reveals a seamless fusion of

Jade bi, known as a flat, circular jade ornament with

a central perforation, holds a prominent place among

the ancient Chinese ceremonial jade. Research by

esteemed scholars reveals that jade bi represents

one of the most abundant and artistically diverse

forms of ceremonial jade in ancient China. It boasts

the distinction of being in use for the longest duration,

carrying the highest hierarchical significance, yielding

the most significant influence, and serving the

broadest range of functions among all categories of

jade articles.[1] From its inception, jade bi has been

intricately interwoven with traditional Chinese cultural

paradigms, profoundly shaping the spiritual realm

of the Chinese populace. This influence surpasses

time and space, persevering for several millennia

without waning until today. Directing our attention

to the Qianlong period, a zenith in the evolution

of ancient Chinese jade artifacts, we uncover the

Qianlong Emperor's unwavering fascination with

jade bi, which is

evident throughout

his collection,

scholarly

endeavors,

and innovative

creations.

This enduring

captivation

harmoniously

echoes with the

distant historical

past, culminating

in a captivating

chapter within

the annals of

Chinese jade

artifact history.

Within the realms

of jade artifact collection, production, and utilization,

the Qianlong period heralded a series of novel

phenomena. Foremost among these was the crafting

of grand-scale jade items. The Qianlong Emperor's

dedication to comprehending and appreciating

ancient jade bi is equally palpable; he invested

considerable energies in innovative initiatives,

transforming them into vessels embodying the grand

ideologies of a flourishing epoch and symbols of

societal aspirations. This sentiment manifests itself in

Sotheby's Hong Kong's recently collected Bronze-cast

\"Dual Dragon\" Base Jade Bi from the Qianlong period.

The sheer magnificence of this creation is perhaps a

phenomenon reserved solely for an era akin to that

of the Qianlong Emperor, evoking immediate awe

THE BRONZE-CAST \"DUAL DRAGON\" BASE JADE

BI FROM THE QIANLONG PERIOD

GUO FUXIANG

“In contrast, the two larger jade bi were paired

with bronze bases and intended for specific

outdoor settings. This stands out as a unique

practice of jade bi usage during the Qianlong

period. To withstand outdoor conditions, both

were given extra thickness, measuring 5 cm.

Such substantial proportions, coupled with

their distinctive thickness, and their designated

use in outdoor settings, was a rare sight among

the contemporary imperial jade bi of the Qing

dynasty, with only two known instances.”

44 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

most cherished among the treasures amassed by

the Qianlong Court and was a recurring subject of

poetic works. Through his poems, it becomes evident

that the Qianlong Emperor employed a method that

harmonized classical literature with tangible artifacts

from the palace's collection, resulting in a systematic

analysis of the ancient jade bi within the court's

possession. Based on the record from The Rites of

Zhou, Chun Guan, Da Zong Bo (Zhouli chunguan

dazongbo), which states, \"Use jade as the six

auspicious emblems and use different types of jade

for different states... The viscount holds jade bi with

grain patterns (gu bi) while the baron holds jade bi

with reed patterns (pu bi).\" Jade bi with grain and reed

patterns in the palace's collection were respectively

identified as artifacts used by the viscount and baron

states of the Zhou dynasty, rather than those from

the Han dynasty. According to the records in Er Ya,

”When the width of jade is several times that of the

median aperture, it is termed bi. When the median

the two components. The sheer magnificence of

the jade bi and the painstaking craftsmanship of the

bronze base encapsulate the distinctive artistic style

of the flourishing Qianlong period. How do we get to

understand such culturally rich and stylistically unique

works in today's context? From my perspective, this

requires placing them within the broader tapestry

of jade development history and the societal ethos

during the Qianlong period, enabling a more precise

interpretation of the value and significance of

masterpieces like this grand jade bi. There are three

aspects that warrant special attention:

Firstly, the Qianlong Emperor's exploration of ancient

jade bi and its influence. In the book The Qianlong

Emperor's Wisdom and Ignorance: The Emperor's

Views on Archaic Jade in His Poems, authored by

researcher Deng Shuping at the Palace Museum

in Taipei, there's a whole chapter dedicated to the

Qianlong Emperor's exploration and assessment of

ancient jade bi. Deng Shuping notes that jade bi was

Fig. 1 Green jade disc with a huanghuali frame, mark and period of Qianlong, Palace Museum, Beijing

圖1 清乾隆 黃花梨木邊座嵌青玉璧插屏一對之一 北京故宮博物院藏

45

(Huangchao liqi tushi), which continued the tradition

of using cang bi as the central ritual implement for

offering sacrifices to the heaven. Meanwhile, the

vague description in The Rites of Zhou regarding the

use of jade gui bi for worshipping the sun, moon, and

stars was clarified. It was explicitly stated that the red

bi should be used for the Altar to the Sun, while the

white bi should be used for the Altar to the Moon,[3]

which undoubtedly elevated the status of jade bi in

the national sacrificial ritual system. Moreover, based

on the commentary by Zheng Xuan on The Rites

of Zhou, Chun Guan, Da Zong Bo – \"Grain provides

sustenance for people, while reeds are used as mats

to provide comfort\", and the record in Discourses of

the States (Guo Yu) – \"Jade is capable of providing

shade and shelter for good crops, preventing water

shortages and droughts, making it a treasure\",[4]

the significance of jade bi was elevated. It came to

symbolize an auspicious emblem of shelter and

abundant harvests, embodying aspirations for

aperture's width is several times that of the jade, it is

termed yuan. When the edge's width matches that of

the median aperture, it's called huan.\"The Qianlong

Emperor differentiated their physical objects in the

palace's collection and used this as a benchmark

to identify jade bi. Furthermore, based on the laws

of developmental evolution, the Qianlong Emperor

inferred that the plain jade bi were created before

the grain-patterned and reed-patterned jade bi,

suggesting they might have originated from the Xia

dynasty or even earlier, during the period of Yu and

Shun.[2] The Qianlong Emperor believed that the plain

jade bi embodied the essence of antiquity, aligning

with the core principles of ancient rites and concepts.

According to the record in The Rites of Zhou, Chun

Guan, Da Zong Bo, \"Use jade as for six vessels in

offering sacrifices to the heaven and the earth in four

directions. Use cang bi for the heaven.\" This rigorous

rite protocol was maintained in the compilation of the

Illustrated Ritual Implements of the Imperial Dynasty

Fig. 2 Green jade disc with a bronze ‘dragon’ frame, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, Palace

Museum, Beijing

圖2 清乾隆 青銅龍紋座青玉璧插屏 北京故宮博物院藏

46 FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING 詳盡圖錄內容請瀏覽 SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1359

intrinsic significance of jade bi, returning to the core

values and ideas of ancient rituals. These pieces have

unique symbolic meanings. They adhere closely to

the ancient proportion - \"when the width of the jade

is several times that of the median aperture, it is

term bi\" as described in the ancient text Er Ya. An

example is the present large jade bi with a dual dragon

motif cast in bronze, measuring 40.5 cm in diameter

with a central hole diameter of 13 cm, maintaining

a jade-to-hole ratio of 3:1, as documented in Er Ya.

It's worth noting that these contemporaneous plain

jade bi are characterized by their substantial size.

The Qianlong Emperor specifically highlighted this

aspect in his relevant poems, as seen in the line, \"The

splendid jade piece, almost a foot in length, comes

from Hetian and can be called a treasure\"[5], and

\"Exquisite Hetian tribute of superior quality, with size

surpassing a foot.\"[6]. The creation of such sizable

bi inevitably invokes parallels with the crafting of

massive \"jade mountains\" during the Qianlong period,

which demonstrates a harmony with tradition while

simultaneously surpassing it and presenting new

artistic expressions. This is a typical characteristic

of jade craftsmanship during the Qianlong period. In

the eyes of the

Qianlong Emperor,

contemporary

jade artworks also

held significant

meaning. Through

the design and

crafting of these

pieces, he could

further convey

his own ideologies and thoughts. The production of

contemporaneous plain jade bi, especially the large

ones, epitomized a fusion of innovation with the

foundation of research and understanding of ancient

jade bi. This not only reflected the continuity of

cultural traditions but also embraced the spirit of the

times and showcased novel artistic approaches.

Thirdly, some unique cases involving the use of large

jade bi in court during the Qianlong period. In that

period, the imperial court amassed a significant

collection of jade bi, and these pieces were used in

varying ways. Typically, like the small-scale archaistic

jade bi and the archaic ones passed down through

generations, they found their place in the imperial

collection, becoming art pieces that the emperor often

admired. However, the large contemporary jade bi

had a distinct role in terms of collection and utilization.

By examining a few surviving artifacts, we can glean

insights into the specific scenarios of using the large

bi. Among these artifacts, the Palace Museum in

Beijing houses a pair of celadon jade bi mounted on

huanghuali table screens [7], measuring 61 cm tall

prosperous years ahead. This interpretation found

frequent elaboration in the emperor's poems. These

notions were tangibly manifested in the Qianlong

Emperor's drive to revive and emulate ancient artistic

techniques in crafting jade bi, serving as crucial

touchstones during the creation of jade bi from newly

mined Hetian jade during the Qianlong period.

Secondly, the conditions and characteristics of

crafting jade bi during the Qianlong period. The

Qianlong period marked the final glorious phase in

the history of Chinese jade artifacts. This was not

solely due to the unprecedented scale of ancient

jade collections within the imperial court, but more

significantly, it was a result of the Qing government's

control over jade-producing regions following the

pacification of the northern and southern tribes in

the Tian Shan and Junggar areas of Xinjiang. This

control led to rapid development in imperial jade

production, driving an unparalleled prosperity within

the national jade industry and market. Likewise, jade

bi collected within the Qing court during the Qianlong

period did not exclusively consist of ancient artifacts.

Many of them were actually the result of the Qianlong

Emperor's

strategic

development of

the entire jade

craftsmanship

sector, crafted as

contemporary jade

bi. By examining

the Qianlong

Emperor's poems

related to contemporary jade bi and the extant

physical examples of such artifacts, we can gain

a general understanding of the characteristics of

jade bi produced during this period. Overall, these

contemporary jade bi pieces were closely linked to

the Qianlong Emperor's exploration of ancient jade bi.

Contemporary jade bi can generally be categorized

into two types. The first type imitates ancient jade bi.

Typically made from materials like white jade or pale

green jade, these pieces are smaller in size, finely

crafted, and often replicate the intricate patterns

found on exquisite jade bi predating the Han dynasty.

They often bear inscriptions such as \"Imitated by

Qianlong\" or \"Imitated by Emperor Qianlong of the

Great Qing\". These pieces were primarily collected by

the Qianlong Emperor for his personal appreciation

and formed an integral part of the court's collection

for appreciation. The second type is large plain jade

bi. They were created based on records in ancient

texts that described the regulations for crafting jade

bi, showcasing the inheritance and development of

traditional ceremonial practices. Adopting a plain

design, they may have aimed to emphasize the

“The \"dual dragon\" bronze base of the present

jade bi is adorned with depictions of ocean

waves, cliffs and dragon patterns, all carrying a

potent message of imperial authority and the

unification of the realm.”

47

distinctive thickness, and their designated use

in outdoor settings, was a rare sight among the

contemporary imperial jade bi of the Qing dynasty,

with only two known instances.

Considering the outdoor arrangement of the large

jade bi at the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the

Forbidden City, I reckon that this massive Bronze-cast

\"Dual Dragon\" Base Jade Bi was likely placed outdoors

within a ceremonial area of some structures. The way

indoor and outdoor spaces are organized in a building

is closely tied to their intended purposes. The Hall of

Mental Cultivation served as a multifunctional space

where the emperor lived and worked. Hence, the

large jade bi in this spot is inserted in the bronze base,

which is finely carved with dragon motifs, creating a

solemn atmosphere with a touch of vitality. The \"dual

dragon\" bronze base of the present jade bi is adorned

with depictions of ocean waves, cliffs and dragon

patterns, all carrying a potent message of imperial

authority and the unification of the realm. However,

due to a lack of available information, the exact

location where

it was displayed

remains uncertain.

Nevertheless, it is

certain that such

large outdoor jade

artifacts for display

are extremely

uncommon.

Perhaps only

during the

Qianlong

period, under a unique combination of favourable

circumstances, could a piece of such grandeur

and magnificence come into being. This artwork

illustrates the Qianlong Emperor's appreciation for

and dedication to traditional jade craftsmanship as

well as how the Qianlong court blended contemporary

features with traditions.

[1] Yin Zhiqiang: A Glimpse into Various Aspects of Ancient Chinese Jade Bi,

Editor: Yu Ming, A Life Bound to Jade - Compilation of Essays Celebrating the

80th Birthday of Mr. Yang Boda, p. 317-326, Science Press, 2006.

[2] Deng Shuping: The Qianlong Emperor's Wisdom and Ignorance: The

Emperor's Views on Archaic Jade in His Poems, p. 81-83, the Palace

Museum, Taipei, 2019.

[3] [Qing] Yunlu and others by imperial order: Illustrated Ritual Implements of

the Imperial Dynasty, v. 1, Wuyingdian Edition.

[4] Discourses of the States: Discourses of Chu II (Guo Yu Chuyuxia),\"Wang

Sunyu Discusses the Treasures of Chu\".

[5] The Fifth Collection of Poems by Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty,

v. 28, Inscription on Jade Bi from Hetian.

[6] The Fifth Collection of Poems by Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty,

v. 45, Ode to Jade Bi from Hetian.

[7] Edited by Rui Qian: 131 Pieces of Huanghuali Furniture You Should Know,

p. 234-235, Forbidden City Press, 2008.

and 42 cm wide (fig. 1). The inserted celadon jade

bi boasts a diameter of 28.2 cm, a hole diameter of

9 cm, and a thickness of 1.6 cm. The inner rim of the

jade bi carries an inscription reading \"Made during the

Qianlong reign of the Great Qing dynasty\". The jade

bi itself exudes a serene emerald hue, with intricate

patterns and a texture reminiscent of the renowned

Hetian jade. The inscription on it unequivocally marks

it as a contemporary creation from the Qianlong

period's imperial court, thus solidifying its status

as the quintessential representation of the large

jade bi crafted during that time. In addition, another

substantial jade bi sits outside the main gate of

the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxindian) within

the Forbidden City (fig. 2). This jade bi is expertly

incorporated into a bronze screen, mirroring the style

seen in numerous jade bi-inserted zitan table screens

from the Qianlong period. It serves as a distinctive

example of the fusion between jade artifacts and

furniture during Qianlong’s reign. The jade bi itself

boasts a diameter of 52 cm, a central aperture of

18 cm, and a

thickness of 5 cm.

The material,

color and texture

of this large jade

bi bear a striking

resemblance to the

aforementioned

celadon jade

bi featuring

the inscription

\"Made during the

Qianlong reign of the Great Qing dynasty\". When we

compare these three pieces from the Palace Museum

with the Bronze-cast \"Dual Dragon\" Base Jade Bi in

Sotheby's collection, we observe a striking similarity

in their materials, color and texture, which hints at

a shared source of jade material. This observation

suggests that the large jade bi displayed outside the

Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City and the

one set for auction by Sotheby's likely both originate

from the Qianlong imperial court. Meanwhile, these

four large contemporary jade bi appear to be parts

of the same project, possibly created concurrently.

The slightly smaller pair feature the inscription \"Made

during the Qianlong reign of the Great Qing dynasty\"

and were designed to complement hardwood table

screens, ideal for indoor display. In contrast, the two

larger jade bi were paired with bronze bases and

intended for specific outdoor settings. This stands

out as a unique practice of jade bi usage during the

Qianlong period. To withstand outdoor conditions,

both were given extra thickness, measuring 5 cm.

Such substantial proportions, coupled with their

“It is certain that such large outdoor jade

artifacts for display are extremely uncommon.

Perhaps only during the Qianlong period,

under a unique combination of favourable

circumstances, could a piece of such grandeur

and magnificence come into being.”

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