∼National Palace∼
Visit at the National Palace Museum

Harmony and Integrity : the Yongzheng Emperor and His times
October 20, 2009

After a long Summer vacation, all members of WTIC were invited to a guided tour of a unique exhibition presented in the National Palace Museum, on < Yongzheng Emperor and His Times >.It was organised in collaboration with the Palace Museum in Peking and features at total of 246 items, including 37 fine works on loan from the Palace Museum in Peking and others. They portray the life and times of the Emperor Yongzheng as well as the achievements in art and culture in his reign.

History
Fourth son of emperor Kangxi, Yongzhengdi (1678-1735, name at birth Yinzhen) was the third emperor of the Manchu Ching dynasty to rule over China from 1722 to 1739 at the age of 45. He ruled 13 years, with suspicion to have usurped the throne, but the legacy of his reign as can be seen on the items in display is immense. We discover a ruler wise enough to analyse the political state of affairs, eager to crack down on corruption and reform the financial administration. He chose the era name < Yongzheng > < Harmony and Integrity > and brought with earnest an era of continued peace and prosperity.

Art and symbolism
He supported art in all its forms. We marveled in front of the clear enamel wares, with delicately painted ornaments on a superbly clearwhite ground which he favoured. The catalog we received is a reminder of the wide scope covered by the exhibition, documents, books, maps, portraits, paintings, calligraphic works, ceramics, lacquer ware, agate carvings, but a special mention is to be made on the exquisite porcelains that bear his tastes, or the rose porcelains that mark his era, or the style of the vases, ru (celadon) , jun (blue using cobalt and copper) and ge (cracks turned into design wares), Song or Ming dynasty wares with a new style.

What needs to be emphasized is the importance of symbols. He was an adept of Buddhism, Daoism in his search for immortality, a true believer in Confucianism. We find in the artifacts all these auspicious signs, longevity, prosperity using the ideogram or the natural elements like bambu, pine, fungus, gourd, double seeds or pomegranate (seeds meaning children) . The style of his calligraphies show a strong and noble personality. The scrolls of slim ladies or of palaces also reflect life at the imperial court, the state rituals underline the importance of agriculture.

Influence of the Western world
The presence of Jesuits at the imperial court left a number of traces. The emperor Yongzheng favoured clocks, calendars. We see him wearing a whig and western clothes which I took as a humorous twinkle of the eye.

Here I was given to admire my first paintings by Castiglione, a Jesuit monk who arrived in Peking in 1715 at the age of 27 and stayed 50 years until his death. He is remembered under his Chinese name < Lang Shining >. He assimilated Chinese art so well that his masterpieces are considered an excellent model of east-west creation. He introduced the western concepts into chinese art, using light and shade. His painting of the < White Hawk > became the symbol of the Emperor Yongzheng. The Ching dynasty being descendants of Manchus, experts at horse hunting, Castiglione painted this beautiful scroll of the hundred steeds. Most interesting in this painting was the presence of a thin horse, while all others were the typical Mongolian horses, we see it first alone, under a huge pine tree, the horse is later seen coming closer, to be finally included with the other steeds. Crossing the river meant purifying the mind to reach the promised land if you have the right guide. The thin horse symbolised Xinjiang.

With retrospect and very humbly, I keep marveling at the humanity of an aging ruler who acknowledges in his seal that < to be a ruler is difficult >. The recurrent use of symbols typical in Chinese culture goes beyond their auspicious meaning, it may be the expression of the wish of a foreign dynasty to prove its legitimacy in China.

Christiane Bonneville, France