Emperor Kangxi's southern journey
The Southern Journey of Emperor Kangxi - Cross Scroll No. 1 ( Chinese 康熙 南巡 图 , Pinyin Kāngxī Nánxún Tú ) is the first of twelve hand scrolls that were made under the direction of the Chinese painter Wang Hui ( Chinese 王 翚 , Pinyin Wáng Huī ) around 1691 and 1698 were painted with ink and color on silk .
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It depicts the departure of the Chinese emperor 康熙Kangxi with his retinue from Beijing via the Yongding Gate. The picture has the dimensions of 67.8 by 1555 cm. It was created on the occasion of the Qing Emperor's successful second inspection trip to the southern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang , which he undertook to inspect the water structures of the Yellow River to protect the population from flooding .
An important reason for the trip was to consolidate the foreign rule of the Manchu over the Han Chinese in the southern provinces, which were formerly rioted by revolts, and to present the emperor as a benefactor of the population. Kangxi sought contact with the common people as well as with the local leadership and ensured the reliability of the local officials. In addition, the emperor visited the tombs of Confucius and Emperor " Yu the Great ". Even the first trip was a great success for the emperor and established his extraordinary popularity among the population. The second trip, as well as the four subsequent trips, were carefully planned and were triumphant.
The series of images
After the emperor had given the order to make the second trip of 1689 to the southern provinces of China the subject of a series of pictures, the famous painter Wang Hui (1632–1717), who had good contacts with the civil servants, took over the project entrusted; he was a follower of the orthodox school of Qing painting . Together with his students, the landscape , figure and animal painter Yang Jin (1644–1726) and the landscape painter Gu Fanh , as well as other unknown painters, he documented the imperial enterprise. The production of the twelve cross rolls, which took several years to complete, satisfied the emperor, who came up with the motto “ Landscapes, pure and radiant ” for the painter and offered him an office at the imperial court. Wang Hui turned down a position at court, but gratefully accepted the honorable nickname " Master, Pure and Radiant ".
The pictures in the series are all numbered and contain an accompanying text that names the travel route and lists the most important stops, as well as praising the emperor's qualities. All pictures are executed with extraordinary care and contain both wide landscape panoramas as well as an abundance of characteristic details of the urban and rural life of the population and give insights into trade, culture and industry of the time.
The complete work of all pictures, which originally had a total length of 230 meters, is considered to be one of the longest artistic works in world history. It has an outstanding documentary significance in describing both imperial ceremonies and the everyday life of the Chinese people in the 17th century. Of the twelve hand rolls, nine have survived to this day. They come to a total length of 177.95 meters and are located in the Palace Museum of Beijing .
Cross roller No. 1
Number 1 has the simplest structure of all roles, it contains 1200 figures and describes the emperor's march with his entourage on January 28, 1689. Although deep winter would have to prevail, an optimistic green spring landscape is presented. In the background near the Yongding Gate you can see a temple complex, the so-called Temple of Heaven with the “ Hall of the Harvest Victims ”, which is located south of Beijing. In a huge procession, the entourage with the emperor moves on a road past settlements and through wooded countryside. In the center of the picture the emperor rides on a white horse in the midst of his mounted bodyguard dressed in imperial yellow. A servant on horseback holds a yellow umbrella over the head of the emperor to protect against the sun.
Of the eleven elephants lined up on the roadside, the first four traditionally have the function of clearing the road, the following five carry golden vases on their backs as a symbol of peace. Four large imperial carriages are lined up next to it. The beginning of the cavalcade is just crossing the Liangshui Bridge. The line of parade troops ends in front of the southern hunting park, where the emperor will be the first stop. In reality, the distance painted was about seven kilometers.
Cross rolls No. 2–12
The other roles describe the route via Shandong to the cities of Jiangsu , Suzhou and Shaoxing , a detour to Nanjing , and the return to Beijing via Tianjin (January 28 to April 8, 1689). Cityscapes, cultural landscapes, rivers, canals, temples and the Imperial Palace in Beijing (roll number 12) are shown. There is even a theatrical performance of anecdotal details from the life of the population (role number 9).
The pictures with the numbers 5, 6 and 8, which were presumably sold after Puyi's abdication by corrupt eunuchs who lived in the Forbidden City until 1923 and enriched themselves at the still existing court and the imperial art collection, have been lost.
See also
literature
- Simon B. Heilesen: Pictures from the southern journey of the emperor Kangxi. In: Lothar Ledderose (ed.): Palace Museum Beijing. Treasures from the Forbidden City. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-458-14266-5 , p. 96ff.