Footnotes

Provenance: The estate of Mrs Ann Margaret Saville Aldington, U.K.

Paintings depicting the Yuanming Yuan are extremely rare. Known depictions of the Yuanming Yuan include those of Giuseppe Castiglione, engraved from 1783-1786, portraying views of the palace; and a painting of the 'Hall of Audience, by William Alexander illustrated in Views and Maps Drawn by William Alexander, John Barrow and H. W. Parish on the Earl of Macartney's Embassy to China, 1793-1794, illustrated in E.S.Rawski and J.R.Rawson, China: The Three Emperors 1662-1722, London, 2005, Fig.32, p.61.

The Yuanming Yuan was largely destroyed by British and French forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War, with only several Imperial buildings remaining intact. However, a secondary invasion by the Eight Nation Alliance in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion completed the initial destruction. Therefore, the present painting is a rare and important representation of part of this Imperial Palace, now largely gone or otherwise lying in ruin.

The present painting signed Zhang Xue Yuan was probably presented by officials from Xing Ning Xian in Guangdong Province to the Guangxu Emperor for his Imperial 18th birthday. Although the Guangxu Emperor came of age in 1887, it was only in 1889 that he took over the government from the Dowager Empress Cixi, who acted as Regent and dominated the government since the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in 1861 until her death in 1908. Therefore, it is possible that the painting also marked this important occasion for the Emperor.

The couplet flanking the gateway to the walled pavilion notes the reign names of the Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing Emperors, followed by the auspicious blessing wan nian qian gu, representing the wish for continuity and eternity of the Qing Dynasty. The couplet is flanked by a pair of standing lanterns decorated with inscriptions, which may be translated as celebrating the Emperor's birthday and wishing long life. Perhaps the reason for noting the particular five Emperors, reigning at the beginning and zenith of the Qing Dynasty, combined with the wish for the continuity of the Dynasty, carried particular importance given the clear decline of the Qing Dynasty and growing interference of foreign powers in China at the time.

The painting of the numerous mandarins leisurely engaged in conversation or pipe smoking illustrates the wide array of attire and rank amongst the military and civil officials, including rank badges of crane, wild goose, lion, tiger and qilin, as well as one to three peacock feather eyes, different hat finials and robes. The presence of the Guangxu Emperor, though not clearly depicted, is implied by the orderly attendance of the officials shown in one of the circular windows allowing the viewer to look into the pavilion.

We would like to thank Wan Xichuan for his assistance in researching this painting.