The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal
The careful attention to detail offers a rare opportunity to observe the daily life and activities of an eighteenth-century Chinese city. People, residences, shops, famous temples, and renowned scenic gardens and sites reflect the artist's intimate knowledge and love of his hometown. The influence of Western art on court taste is evident in the use of perspective and foreshortening in architectural details. Grand Secretary Yu Minzhong inscribed the beginning of the painting with a poem about Suzhou composed by the Qianlong emperor. Palace archives reveal that Xu Yang began a draft of this set of scrolls in 1764 and completed the silk version in time for the emperor's sixtieth birthday, in 1770.
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Artwork Details
- 清 徐揚等 乾隆南巡圖（第六卷：大運河至蘇州） 卷
- Title: The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal
- Artist: Xu Yang (Chinese, active ca. 1750–after 1776) and assistants
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: dated 1770
- Culture: China
- Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 27 1/8 in. x 784 1/2 in. (68.8 x 1994 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1988
- Object Number: 1988.350a–d
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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7319. The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering Suzhou along the Grand Canal (Qianlong nanxun, juan liu: Dayunhe zhi Suzhou)
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