As we all know, Qianlong likes to appreciate calligraphy and painting, compared to the Xia Jiangnan, which costs countless money and food, appreciating calligraphy and painting is both pleasing and pleasing to the eye, and of course he can also cover his favorite jade seal.
Zhangzong
In the decades of appreciation, there are countless masterpieces that have been "touched" by Qianlong, so they have nicknames such as "Qingzhangzong" and "Aixin Jueluo Psoriasis".
Qianlong imprint map
So the question is, do you know how many square seals Qianlong had?
According to Qianlong's special seal "Qianlong Baoxu" records, Qianlong has a total of 1,000 square seals, perhaps some of the seals are too poor quality or forgotten, Qianlong still has more than 700 seals have not been included in the "Qianlong Baoxu", so look at it, Qianlong's real number of seals should be about 1,800 squares.
If you use one every day, it will take you five years to use it once.
"Ji Entang", 2021 auction price: 120 million yuan
If it is put to this point, it is enough to be selected in the Guinness Book of World Records.
So the question is, why did Qianlong engrave so many seals?
It's simple, because there are too many raw materials, so you don't have to waste them too much.
Seals need good jade, such as Hetian Qingyu, which is known as the emperor's jade, and Tian Huangshi, which is known as one or two Tian Huang and ten taels of gold, etc., are all precious jade materials that can not be found in the jade world.
A treasure for the elderly
But in Qianlong's eyes, all this is not a thing, since Qianlong pacified the Junggar rebellion, a large number of jade was sent to the Qing court, according to records, the annual tribute to the court of jade has 4,000 catties, until Qianlong abdicated.
The mutton fat white jade that the predecessors were afraid of melting in their mouths, and the mutton fat white jade that they were afraid of losing in the palm of their hands was similar to a stone in Qianlong's eyes.
Therefore, Qianlong, who is rich in materials, naturally can't be wasted, so let's engrave it!
And as an emperor, a will of the world's skilled craftsmen gathered, and they could carve whatever they wanted, such as cutting out a piece of Tianhuang out of a triptych.
Qianlong Emperor Tian Huang Triptych: Left "Qianlong Chenhan", Middle "Lotte", Right "Only the Essence and the One"
In this way, there are more and more seals of Qianlong.
With the seal, it naturally has to be covered, and it can be passed down through the ages, and only the literati love to collect the calligraphy and paintings, after all, it is a pity that so many seals are not taken out to cover.
After Qianlong ascended the throne, he collected the world's collection into the palace, even if it was just a piece of paper, Qianlong also had to be in his pocket, it can be said that the Qing Palace collection is so rich, the biggest hero is Qianlong.
"Sunny Post When the Snow is Fast", Qianlong covered the most words
Then Qianlong started the great cause of appreciating and sealing.
On the one hand, Qianlong may really like calligraphy and painting, on the other hand, he stamps on the calligraphy and painting, indicating that these calligraphy and painting are his own things, even if they are stolen, no one dares to buy and sell them openly, after all, the calligraphy and painting have their own seals and imperial pens.
Not only that, Qianlong also compiled these calligraphy and paintings into the "Shiqu Baoji", which is bound to make his calligraphy and painting seals pass on.
According to the "Notes of the Western Qing Dynasty" by Shen Chu of the Qing Dynasty:
Whenever the royal pen calligraphy and painting are issued with treasures, the ministers choose the seal words and sentences to use, the position is left and right, so that the workers
And Qianlong's seal has several characteristics, first of all, it is a type that will engrave many paragraphs, and secondly, the words of the jade seal are required to be large, which is convenient for him to stamp in a conspicuous position, after all, as an emperor, he can't seem to shrink.
Eye-catching position on the cover (Zhao Mengfu's "People Riding Pictures" volume)
Of course, so many seals Qianlong may not all remember, naturally they are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, Qianlong often used seals probably have the following categories.
Qianlong appreciation: Qianlong's most commonly used seal
Qianlong appreciation is the most common and the most recognizable Qianlong seal, which was engraved after Qianlong ascended the throne, and all the works included in the "Shiqu Treasure" must be stamped with the big seal of "Qianlong appreciation".
Qianlong Hyo-hsien
In addition, Qianlong also likes to use the four seals of "Qianlong Imperial Treasure", "Shiqu Treasure", "Sanxitang Jingjian Seal", and "Yi Sun Zi".
Stone Canal Treasure
Sanxitang Jingjian Seal
Appropriate children and grandchildren
In addition to "The Treasure of the Stone Canal", even in the Buddhist painting and calligraphy book "The Secret Palace Pearl Forest", Qianlong also had to stamp his own "Qianlong Appreciation" seal.
Zhao Mengfu's "Human Riding Map" volume, the treasure of Qianlong's imperial view, Shiqu Dingjian, Baoji recompilation, Sanxitang Jingjian seal, Yi descendants, Guxi Tianzi
Enlarge image
In the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (1791), due to the fire in the palace, a batch of "Shiqu Baoji" was burned, and Qianlong ordered the pavilion to continue to compile "Shiqu Baoji" and "Secret Palace Zhulin".
Stone canal determination
Since it is a sequel, it is natural that a new seal must be stamped, and all the works that are continued to be recorded, in addition to the previous five seals, must also be stamped with two additional seals: "Shiqu Dingjian" and "Bao Ji Recompilation".
Bao Ji re-edited
As for the "Continuation of the Secret Palace Zhulin", two seals of "New Edition of the Secret Palace" and "Zhulin Redetermination" are added.
The collection palace is different, and the seal is also different
Qianlong has many calligraphy and paintings, a palace will inevitably not be able to put down, and in order to prevent fire, Qianlong did not dare to put all the calligraphy and paintings in one place, so after ascending the throne, he ordered that according to the rarity, they were stored in each palace.
Since the palaces are different, it is appropriate to distinguish them with the seals of the palaces.
Mandarin Palace
Therefore, in addition to the above seals, Qianlong also engraved the seals of the collection palace, such as "Qianqing Palace Seal", "Yangxin Palace", "Chonghua Palace", "Wenyuan Pavilion Treasure", "Wanhua Palace Treasure", "Wenhua Palace", "Le Shoutang Seal", "Imperial Study Seal", "Wuyi Zhai Seal" and so on.
Wanhua Palace treasures
The seal of the creation of calligraphy and painting
In addition to appreciating calligraphy and painting, Qianlong also likes to create his own calligraphy and painting.
Generally, after appreciating calligraphy and painting, Qianlong would not be able to suppress the vigorous desire to express, began to splash ink, and then added two large seals of "Imperial Book" or "Qianlong Imperial Pen".
Gosho
In addition, there are also "splashing ink", "sketching", "using the pen in the heart", "stroke spring rain" and so on.
Of course, if you read, Qianlong also has his own seal, such as "Book History Research and Compliance with Ancient Teachings", "Reading Clearly", "Pleasant Book History", "Reading Books for Pleasure", etc., anyway, as long as you want to use it, you can cover it anywhere.
Very unique "dry" and "long" joint pearl seals
Perhaps he liked his own era name very much, Qianlong also engraved the seal of his own year name, which is the "Qian" and "Long" joint pearl seal, of course, there is more than one.
"Qian" and "Long" are linked to the pearl seal
In addition to the Chinese character "Qian", Qianlong also used the Qianqian hexagram "Three Heng" as his seal.
"Qian" and "Long" are linked to the pearl seal
Of course, there are no rules for the use of the bead seal, where to see where to cover, sometimes some of the same character seal will be stamped on a work many times.
"Qian" and "Long" are linked to the pearl seal
It can be said that Qianlong not only likes "barrage", but also likes the "+1+1" stamp.
For example, Wang Xizhi's "Clear Post When the Snow is Fast", Wang Xizhi wrote a total of 28 words, but Qianlong stamped 172 big seals, which was the most stamped calligraphy and painting in Qianlong's life.
In addition, there is also Zhao Ziang's "Quehua Autumn Color Map", and Qianlong stamped 168 large seals.
I have to say that Qianlong's title of "stamped madman" is well-deserved.
Gu Xi Tianzi: Qianlong's favorite imperial treasure in his later years
As a long-lived emperor, Qianlong was quite proud of his ability to reign for such a long time, so he began to engrave the seal of his age after the age of seventy.
For example, when he was seventy years old, he engraved the "Treasure of the Ancient Son of Heaven", engraved 42 squares before and after, and the most commonly used seals were "The Treasure of the Ancient Son of Heaven", "The Son of Ancient Xi Heaven" and "The Treasure of the Ancient Rare Son of Heaven of the Five Blessings and Five Generations" and so on.
Gofuku Godaido Korare Tenzi Treasure
In particular, the "Ancient Xi Heavenly Son" is often covered by Qianlong in the middle of the scroll, which is very conspicuous.
Tenko Koki
After reaching the age of eighty, Qianlong ordered someone to engrave the "Treasure of the Eight Signs of Old Thought", of course, the number of which was 63 squares.
The treasure of the eight signs
After passing the throne to Jiaqing, Qianlong ordered someone to engrave the "Treasure of the Emperor Taishang" for his later years of appreciating calligraphy and painting.
The treasure of the Emperor Taishang
It can be said that after Qianlong's decades of stamping activities, there is hardly any national treasure calligraphy and painting that can escape Qianlong's big hand.
Of course, in addition to the collection of calligraphy and paintings, Qianlong was not merciful in stamping his proud paintings, such as "Panshan Tu", as long as it is an empty place, it is either stamped with a big seal or covered by inscriptions, and the main one is treated equally.
"Panshan Map", the main theme is to treat everyone equally
However, there is one thing to say, although Qianlong's seal is suspected of showing his power, at least he has collected and sorted out a lot of ancient calligraphy and paintings.
It's just that there are a little more seals, after all, although the previous generation also liked to stamp, but the collected seals will be placed in the corner area of calligraphy and painting, trying not to destroy the picture.
And Qianlong is not particular at all, as long as he is happy, he can build anywhere.