Emperor Kangxi reading scroll

[Axis of Emperor Kangxi’s Reading Statue]

Axis of Emperor Kangxi’s Reading Statue, painted by court painters in the Qing Dynasty, silk, colored, 138 cm vertically and 106.5 cm horizontally
Emperor Kangxi has extensively studied the traditional cultural knowledge of the Han nationality since he was a child. After he was in power, he held a Japanese lecture and a feast to enrich himself. On the one hand, he studied the Confucian classics and absorbed the knowledge beneficial to his country and the world from the rich classics of the past dynasties. On the other hand, he gradually established the Confucian doctrine and the doctrine of Cheng and Zhu as the official orthodox ideology governing the country by discussing the way of governing the country and the state with the lecturers of the Japanese lecture and the feast, In order to win over the scholar-bureaucrats of the Han nationality, master the cultural and ideological domination, and consolidate the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty. The establishment of the ruling concept of “respecting Confucius and advocating Confucianism” has laid a solid foundation for formulating and implementing its cultural policy. Without the foundation of reading poems and books and reading ancient books, and without careful and practical study, I am afraid Emperor Kangxi could not complete the great cause of conquering the south and north and unifying the territory, let alone govern the world in an orderly way
The “Reading Statue of Emperor Kangxi” axis shows the diligent and diligent side of the promising monarch. In the picture, Emperor Kangxi sits cross legged and meditates as if he is pondering the essence of the book. The books on the back are full of shelves and neatly arranged, conveying the message that the subject has a wide range of knowledge and is diligent and eager to learn. Throughout the whole picture, the court painters are obviously influenced by European painting techniques, such as the rendering of the faces of the characters and the drapes of the clothes, which are depicted by the changes of color instead of the traditional Chinese painting with the way of line drawing. Another example is that the perspective relationship of the bookcase behind the characters and the expression of shadows are also unique techniques of European painting. This reflects that Chinese painters are initially trying to use a foreign art technique to create paintings of their own themes, which is a useful exploration and an example of cultural exchanges between China and the West.