The Collection Of Paintings And Calligraphy In The Imperial Court Of Qianlong Dynasty

The collection of paintings and calligraphy in the imperial court of Qianlong Dynasty reached its peak again after the collections of Tangtaizong, Songhuizong and Yuanwenzong. For one thing, the nation was unitified and strong, and society was stable in Qianlong era. Those external conditions provided a favorable protection for the concentration in the high degree of the paintings and calligraphy in the imperial court. For another, the subjective factors of Qianlong Emperor's preferences and personality were the fundamental driving forces to persevere the collection and appreciation. Qianlong Emperor's passions for the collection of paintings and calligraphy could be traced back through the absorption and respect of the Han culture by Shunzhi Emperor, Kangzi Emperor and Yongzheng Emperor. For himself, those characters of Qianlong Emperor, such as the Han literati complex, a strong desire to share and craving for greatness and success, made him have the outstanding achievements in the history of painting and calligraphy collection. Qianlong Emperor's collection of painting and calligraphy in his life could be divided into four stages:prince period, the early Qianlong Dynasty (1736-1745), mid-and-late Qianlong Dynasty (1746-1795), Emperor Father period.The paintings and calligraphy in the imperial court of Qianlong Dynasty were numerous and inclusive. There were silk tapestry with cut designs, embroidery, paper weaving, rattan weaving paintings in addition to the traditional paintings and calligraphy from the view of materials and processes. It also could be divided into religious and unreligious paintings and calligraphy from the main subject matter. And the unreligious paintings nearly covered all classes of paintings. From the view of the age of the paintings and calligraphy, it could be divided into two parts of pre-Qing Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, and paintings and calligraphy of Qing Dynasty also included the emperors' works in early Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Emperor's works, works of ministers' and other painters' and calligraphers', and the the works of anonymous ones'. From the view of mounting styles it could be divided into three main types of books, volumes and scroll paintings. In addition to the emperors' works in Qing Dynasty, there were several ways of the source of these pantings and calligraphy as below:the succession of the imperial court collection of Ming Dynasty, purchasing, ministers'contributions, works of court painters', getting from searching one's house and confiscating his possession, as well as the ones coming into the imperial court as Qianlong Emperor came to the throne.Paintings and calligraphy were stored in the palaces of the imperial court mainly. Out of the imperial court there were many other places to stored the works. Some places stored the works corresponding to their own functions, such as images stored in Nanxundian, and the religious illustrations, texts, etc stored in Dagaodian of Jingshan and in Wanshandian of Xiyuan. Some places stored general paintings and calligraphy, which spread over Xiyuan, Yuanmingsanyuan (Yanmingyuan Palace, Changhuanyuan Palace, Qichuanyuan Palace), Three Mountains (Qingyiyuan Palace in Wanshoushan, Jingmingyuan Palace in Yuquanshan, Jingyiyuan Palace in Xiangshan). In addition, works also were stored in the summer palaces out of the capital, such as Jingjishanzhuang in Panshan of Jixian and Bishushanzhuang in Chengde. Thus it showed the features of the universality and hierarchy of paintings and calligraphy collection in imperial court in Qing Dynasty.The recorded works of paintings and calligraphy collected in imperial court were compiled on the basis of appreciation and arrangement as the paintings and calligraphy increased gradually. The works specially including Buddhism, Taoism were called Midianzhulian, and the works including general paintings and calligraphy were called Shiqubaoji. Each one had the First, Second and Third Compilations. The First and Second Compilations were finished in Qianlong Dynasty, and they were the general lists of paintings and calligraphy collection of the imperial court in Qianlong Dynasty. Although the Third Compilation was finished in Jiaqing Dynasty, it also recorded a considerable portion of works stored in late Qianlong Dynasty and the Father Emperor period, which were not included in the Second Compilation. Midianzhulin and Shiqubaoji were of great works recorded in the imperial paintings and calligraphy collection in Qing Dynasty. And the staff responsible for compiling were experts on paintings or calligraphy at that time. And they participated in the activities of identifying. So they compiled the works with high levelsQianlong Emperor didn't put the collection on the shelf, but he was diligent in appreciation after dealing with the affairs of the state. And he already had a considerable level of appreciation. It could be seen from the left signed by labels with the titles, poems, inscriptions, seals and so on. Frequency and continuity were the major features of appreciation activities for Qianlong Emperor. And no one could be compared with his diligence among all Chinese ancient emperors, and he could be called the best imperial connoisseur. Meanwhile, Qianlong Emperor's the inscriptions and seals on the paintings affected the artistic layout and overall beauty of the art works themselves to a certain extent.The royal collection had a relative closeness, which just belonged to the emperor alone. And therefore the only-one-person-centered activities of the emperor were formed. The official ministers to participate as companians were essential in form. There were 79 persons to participate in the activities of appreciating paintings and calligraphy, including the royal family members and general official ministers. The official ministers of Manzu and Hanzu constituted the main part, and they all had literary talent and the related talent in paintings and calligraphy basically. They participated in the appreciation activities mainly through the textual research, poetry singing in tune, inscriptions, etc. The relationship between Qianlong Emperor and the official ministers were of disparity in positions between monarch and officials, and was lack of equality as folk appreciation of paintings and calligraphy. So official ministers'assessments were unfair and compliment, and they simply repeated what Qianlong Emperor said without an independent opinion. Therefore it showed that the official ministers all agreed with Qianlong Emperor's textual argument in the activities of the paintings and calligraphy appreciation.The collection of paintings and calligraphy in Qing Dynasty was the concentrating protection and siftness of the art cultural heritage in the form of the state power. It could be called a great event in the history of art and collection. Meanwhile it also settled a foundation for the collection of paintings and calligraphy in Beijing Palace Museum and Taipei Palace Museum. So it also had a far-reaching implication.