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Exceptional Gorgeousness of Porcelain from the Qianlong Reign

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A Brief History of Chinese Imperial Porcelain

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The Qianlong Emperor, also known by his name Aisin-Gioro Hongli, ascended to the throne at the age of 25 and reigned for an impressive 60 years. He retained ultimate power as the Taishang Huang (literally, the Emperor Emeritus) for over 3 years before passing away at the age of 89. In addition to his reign title, “Qianlong”, the Emperor is also known by his posthumous name, Emperor Chun, and his temple name, the Emperor Gaozong of Qing. The Qianlong Emperor holds the title of the longest-reigning monarch and the longest-lived one in Chinese imperial history. During the Qianlong reign, the Qing Empire enjoyed vast territories, times of peace and prosperity, and a thriving economy supported by an abundance of government resources. Hence, the Chinese monarchy was at its cultural peak, achieving cultural prosperity and national harmony, winning the border peace, and attracting all nations to visit. Proud of his Shi Quan Wugong (“Ten Great Campaigns”, i.e., a series of military campaigns launched by the Qing Empire in the mid-late eighteenth century in the Qianlong reign), the Qianlong Emperor referred to himself as the grandiose style name of Shi Quan Laoren (literally, “Old Man of the Ten Completed [Great Campaigns]”). Regarding ceramics produced in the imperial kiln in this reign, great strides have been made with the continuation of previous styles and techniques. As Cao Zhi (192–232) wrote in his fu, “Qi Qi七启 (meaning, ‘On Beauty of Seven Things’)”, “the very precious sword named Buguang (made during the Spring and Autumn period, 771–476 BC) | was decorated gorgeously and ornamented richly”. Ceramics in the Qianlong reign were characterized by a highly elaborate style.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Siku Quanshu Zongmu, Chuban Shuoming 四库全书总目·出版说明 (Publishing Introduction to Catalog of Siku Quanshu). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1965.

  2. 2.

    Xu, Zhiheng (Qing dynasty), edited. Li, Chen, annotated. Yinliuzhai Shuo Ci 饮流斋说瓷 (On Ceramics at Yinliuzhai Study). Hefei: Huangshan Publishing House, 2016.

  3. 3.

    Liang, Miaotai. The Quantity of Ceramics in Jingdezhen Ordered by the Qing Court in the Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns. Journal of Nanchang University (Humanities and Social Sciences) (3), 2003.

  4. 4.

    Author’s Note: Ji refers to as a measure of capacity specially for porcelain vessels in Chinese. Commonly used are such measure units as 5-ji, 10-ji, 100-ji, 500-ji, 1,000-ji, 10.000-ji, etc. The bigger the measure is, the larger capacity of the porcelain vessel is.

  5. 5.

    Lan, Pu & Zheng, Tinggui (Qing dynasty), eds. Ouyang, Chen & Zhou, Qiusheng, proofread. Lu, Jiaming & Zuo, Xingpei, annotated. Jingdezhen Tao Lu Jiaozhu 景德镇陶录校注 (Annotated Edition of the Potteries of China). Nanchang: Jiangxi People’s Publishing House, 1996.

  6. 6.

    Tang, Ying (Qing dynasty). Zunzhi Shaozao Shiwen Qiaoping Zhe 遵旨烧造诗文轿瓶折 (The Memorial on the Making of the Palanquin Vases with the Emperor’s Poems under the Imperial Order). Tang Ying Dutao Wendang 唐英督陶文档 (Documents on Tang Ying’s Supervision of Porcelain). Beijing: Xueyuan Publishing House, 2012.

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  1. Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chongnian Yan

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Yan, C. (2024). Exceptional Gorgeousness of Porcelain from the Qianlong Reign. In: A Brief History of Chinese Imperial Porcelain. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4145-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4145-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

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