Book Description
This sumptuous new book brings together some of the most priceless national treasures in China, housed in Beijing's royal palace complex, the Forbidden City, and collected by Emperor Qianlong. During his sixty-year reign, from 1736 to 1795, Qianlong not only managed what was then the richest empire in the world, but also amassed the largest collection of art known at that time in China. Providing an introduction to the life at the emperor's palaces, and offering a comprehensive view of imperial art during Qianlong's reign, Splendors of China's Forbidden City is the only work in any Western language devoted exclusively to the court arts of China in the mid-eighteenth century, their last golden age. Many of the objects depicted have never previously been published, and include paintings on canvas, silk and paper, sculptures, palace furnishings, musical instruments, ceremonial clothing, arms and armour, table services and jewellery. This book offers an unprecedented insight into one of the most glittering courts in world history.
About the Author
Chuimei Ho is an independent scholar specializing in Chinese decorative arts and Adjunct Curator of Chinese Archaeology and Art at The Field Museum, Chicago. Bennet Bronson is Curator of Asian Archaeology and Ethnology at The Field Museum, Chicago.
Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong FROM THE PUBLISHER
With the enthronement of Qianlong, in 1736, the Qing dynasty entered a golden age, the last great flowering of imperial Chinese culture. From the heart of the royal palace complex, known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing, Qianlong ruled over a vast empire, wielding absolute power over more than two hundred and fifty million people. His rule extended almost to the close of the century, during which time China's long and splendid past was preserved and made secure, while prosperity allowed its decorative arts and architecture to reach new heights. This sumptuously illustrated book brings together some of China's most priceless national treasures, the magnificent legacy of Qianlong's lifestyle, connoisseurship, and patronage, which gathered calligraphy and paintings, ceramics and bronzes, bamboo and jade carving, lacquerwork and enamelwork within its scope. Many of these artifacts -- from what was then the richest empire in the world -- have never before been published. Taking as its focus the personal and public life of the emperor and his court, Splendors of China's Forbidden City also pictures the challenges inherent in ruling such a diverse nation, and how Qianlong met those challenges, not least by establishing standards of religious ceremony and court practice, and enforcing codes of dress and adornment. In Splendors of China's Forbidden City, the compelling story of one of China's most outstanding emperors is vividly evoked, using original texts and artifacts. Offering an unprecedented insight into one of the most glittering courts in world history, this groundbreaking study is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Chinese culture.
SYNOPSIS
This sumptuous new book brings together some of the most priceless national treasures in China, housed in Beijing's royal palace complex, the Forbidden City, and collected by Emperor Qianlong.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
This companion volume to the traveling exhibition of the same name brings together the treasures of the Forbidden City Beijing's royal palace complex first exhibited at Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen in Rotterdam in 1990, then in Paris in 1996-97, and now showing through September at the Field Museum in Chicago. The book showcases and explains for the first time in any Western language the court arts of mid-18th-century China, amassed by Qianlong, one of China's most outstanding emperors, whose 60-year reign (1736-95) marked the last golden age in the country's history. Ho, adjunct curator of Asian archaeology and art at the Field Museum, and Bronson, the museum's curator of Asian archaeology and ethnology, go beyond discussing the artifacts i.e., the calligraphy, paintings, ceramics, bronzes, and decorative arts gathered and commissioned by Qianlong and delve deeper into the symbolism of imperial power, religion, the Qianlong court, and the emperor himself as both a public and a private person, ultimately producing an absorbing narrative. Lavishly illustrated and consisting of many original essays, this is a feast for the eye. Essential for institutions with major holdings on Chinese art and recommended for all libraries. Lucia S. Chen, NYPL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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