Lang Shining Emperor Qianlong’s Great Reading Axis

[Lang Shining Emperor Qianlong’s Great Reading Axis]

Emperor Qianlong’s Great Reading Axis, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, painting by Lang Shining, silk, color, vertical 430 cm, horizontal 288 cm
In the upper left corner of the painting, Emperor Qianlong wrote a poem: “Twenty years of peace are counted at one stroke, and the ceremony of the Zhou Dynasty is clearly defined.” He set up a military appearance to show the Western Regions, and stood to see the dew of Jingjian Kun. All of us have enough time to see the sky, which is both right and wonderful. The wind and the sun are sunny, and the people are holding down Hiroshi, and it is not only to give but also to give. The Nanyuan Grand Review of the Chronicles is the same, and the Wu Yin and Zhong Dong imperial pen are the same. “The next seal is” Only the fine one “, which is white Wenfang seal, and” Qianlong Chen Han “, which is Zhu Wenfang seal. The seal was also stamped with three Zhuwen square seals: “Five Blessings and Five Dynasties Hall Ancient and Rare Treasure of the Heavenly Child”, “Eight Signs of the Oldest”, and “Faithful Master”. “Wuyin” is the 23rd year of Qianlong (1758)
This painting has no signature of the author. According to the record in “Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty” (Volume 570), the Western painter Lang Shining was asked to “paint a white silk painting,” The Great Reading Picture “, for the gold plate wall after the painting boat house”. It can be seen that this painting should be the work of the court painter Lang Shining. On the basis of Western anatomy, the author uses the light and dark painting method to render the undulating bone changes of the characters’ faces in different shades of Chinese painting colors. In the delicate and vivid portrayal, the author reflects the profound, wise, solemn inner spirit and the majestic imperial spirit. In his creation, the author also gave full play to the three-dimensional and perspective characteristics of European painting, and used exquisite brushwork and clever highlight treatment to truly reproduce the texture of different objects such as horse fur, riding boots and armor. At the same time, he displayed the exquisite workmanship and ornate decoration of the riding gear used by the Emperor Gaozong, such as saddle, whip and weapons used on the horse, such as bows, arrows, armor, etc, From one side, it reflected that the craftsmanship level of the palace office at that time had reached the perfect combination of practicality and artistry
As the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong Hongli always believed that “riding and shooting is the foundation of Manchuria”. For this reason, he attached great importance to the construction of the army, and promoted the Eight Banner soldiers to maintain strong combat effectiveness through various activities such as the Nanyuan military parade, the Mulan autumn dress, and the South China Sea ice play. According to the imperial poems in this picture, it depicts the heroic posture of Hongli when he visited Nanyuan (now south of Beijing) to review the Eight Banners. This grand review was at the time of fierce battle between the Qing army and the Huo Jizhan brothers in the western region. Therefore, in addition to the routine inspection of the Eight Banner Army and the training activities of various weapons and firearms, Gao Zonghong also implied the intention of showing off the strength and military power of the Qing Dynasty to the rebels.