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| Forest of Ink Marvel Gems |
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| The National Palace Museum's Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (Momiao zhulin) is a set of twelve albums (numbered 1 to 12 in Chinese). Each consists of 24 leaves with two sides. All on paper in the accordion mounting, they are encased above and below with wood boards. The upper one is engraved with the title in regular script and includes the production date: Qianlong
wuchen (1748).
The set of twelve albums has paintings on the right and inscriptions to the left. Each album is of a different theme, with twelve court painters depicting 24 topics ranging from landscapes to figures, stories, and flowers; each work has a title in regular script. Opposing leaves were inscribed by the officials Zhuang Yougong and Ji Huang.
When opened, the leaves in this album measure 72.5cm tall and 93.2cm wide. Thus, an entire album can reach a length of 22 meters. This monumental set is the largest surviving album of court paintings.
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| Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (xu [11], leaf 1--"Li Qiao") |
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![Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (xu [11], leaf 1--''Li Qiao'') (New window)](images/selections/selections_1.gif) |
Ding Guanpeng (fl. 1737-1768),
Qing dynasty
Album leaf, ink and light colors on paper, 63 x 42.1
cm
Ding Guanpeng was a court painter under the Qianlong
Emperor (r. 1736-1795) specializing in Buddhist
figures. The washes of the figures' faces borrow
elements of shading from Western painting for more
brightness and volume. The brushwork is quite fine
and typical of Qing court figure painting.
The right leaves in this album include depictions by
Ding Guanpeng of the lives and activities of the 24
Academicians under the Tang emperor Zhongzong (r.
684; 705-710). The left leaves record their names
and official ranks with the calligraphy of Zhuang
Yougong.
These 24 court academicians gifted in literary arts
were established in 708, and they included four
Grand Academicians, eight Academicians, and twelve
Auxiliary Academicians.
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| Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (zi
[1], leaf 22--"Peonies") |
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![Forest of Ink Marvel Gems (zi [1], leaf 22--''Peonies'') (New window)](images/selections/selections_2.gif) |
Yu Sheng (fl. 1741-1757), Qing
dynasty
Album leaf, ink and colors on paper, 62.8 x 42.2 cm
Yu Sheng (style name Zengsan; sobriquet Luting) was
a native of Changshu, Jiangsu. He was the pupil of
Jiang Tingxi and excelled at bird-and-flower and
fish-and-insect painting, especially butterflies. He
also incorporated Western sketching-from-life
methods, imbuing his works with color and beauty.
The right leaves in this album dated to 1747 depict
24 flowers of a lunar period. The left leaves
include transcriptions by Zhuang Yougong in running
script on verses on flowers by the Qianlong Emperor.
The Abstracts of Liang Yuandi states, "From Minor
Winter to Grain Rain are four months of eight times
with 24 periods. It is commonly said that they begin
with the plum blossom and end with the chinaberry,
which concludes at Beginning Summer."
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