Scenic Sites in the Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour

China

Not on view

These four tapestry hangings (13.220.134–.137) may be from a larger group depicting the scenic sites that the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736–95) visited during his historic tours south of the capital. The inscriptions identify these four places as Forest of Springs (Quanlin), Pool of the Ancient School (Panchi), Guangyue Tower (Guangyuelou), and Wuwei Monastery (Wuweiguan), all now in Shandong Province. Aside from Guangyue Tower, the buildings at the other three sites have been destroyed, though the first two are known to have housed auxiliary palaces. The images on these panels are comparable to woodblock illustrations in Nanxun Shengdian, a book published in 1770 to memorize the emperor’s tours.

Scenic Sites in the Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour, Silk tapestry (kesi) with ink and color, China

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