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The Kangxi Emperor's Southern Tour, Scroll Three: Ji'nan to Mount Tai, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), datable to 1691–98
Wang Hui (Chinese, 1632–1717), and assistants
Handscroll; ink and color on silk; 26 11/16 x 548 1/2 in. (67.8 x 1393.8 cm)
Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1979 (1979.5)

To consolidate Manchu authority over China, the Kangxi emperor (r. 1662–1722) made a second tour of the south, in 1689, and later commissioned Wang Hui to record the momentous event. Breaking down the journey into episodes, the artist designed a series of twelve massive handscrolls; he painted most of the landscape himself but left the figures, architectural drawings, and more routine work to his assistants.

This scroll, the third in the set, shows the route of the emperor and his entourage from the city of Ji'nan to Mount Tai, in Shandong Province, a distance of about thirty miles that the party covered February 5–6, 1689. Throughout the scroll, which is more than forty-five feet long, soldiers, porters, and officials in the advance party wend their way on horseback and on foot through the countryside, up winding mountain paths, and through peaceful villages on their way to Mount Tai, the "cosmic peak of the East," where Kangxi was to conduct a heaven-worshipping ceremony.

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    • The Kangxi Emperor's Southern Tour, Scroll Three: Ji'nan to Mount Tai, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), datable to 1691–98
    Wang Hui (Chinese, 1632–1717), and assistants
    Handscroll; ink and color on silk; 26 11/16 x 548 1/2 in. (67.8 x 1393.8 cm)
    Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1979 (1979.5)

    Preface Translation:

    The third scroll respectfully depicts his majesty during his stopover in Ji'nan when he ascended the city wall to make his inspection. The entire populace raised their hands to their foreheads in salutation and rejoiced to behold the imperial countenance. Then, the imperial procession traveled on by mountain road until it arrived at Tai'an District. The emperor then specially led all of the officials in his retinue in a ceremony before Mount Tai. At that time, the deity of the mountain manifested auspicious signs: the serried peaks stood forth and cloud-cloaked trees created an elegant scene, while the elders of Tai'an filled the streets with song and dance. The grandeur of Mount Tai with the incredible winding mountain roads of this area of Lu is only roughly sketched here in "red and green"; shamefully, we lack the ability to depict even a small part of its actual appearance.

    (Translation, Maxwell K. Hearn)

    Detail: panoramic view of Mount Tai.

    (av10)

    Detail: monks and soldiers preparing to welcome the emperor at the foot of Mount Tai; the walled city of Tai'an stands nearby.

    (av12)

    Detail: the temple to the deity of the mountain located on the summit of Mount Tai.

    (av13)