Chinanews client, Beijing, April 25th (Reporter Song Yusheng and Yuan Xiuyue) In the Internet age, Emperor Qianlong has always been a "net celebrity" existence.
In addition to "mysterious aesthetics", he has one thing that attracts many netizens' attention, that is, he likes to write essays and poems.
Statistics show that Emperor Qianlong wrote more than 40,000 poems in his lifetime.
But is this true?
On April 23, a batch of cultural relics called "the largest manuscript of Qianlong's imperial poems in private collection" was exhibited in Beijing.
exhibition site.
Photo by Yuan Xiuyue
The reporter learned that these "manuscripts of Qianlong's imperial poems" included 64 pieces of paper and an album of "Chongqing Empress Dowager's Eighty-year Longevity Ode."
It covers a variety of styles such as Jingyan Yulun, ode, writing, praise, inkstone inscriptions, etc. The subject matter includes reading and reviewing history, current affairs chronicles, sceneries, appreciation of utensils, and calligraphy and painting chants.
Earlier, some netizens shouted "the words are so beautiful" when they saw these poems.
A transcript of the imperial poem "Into the Cliff (It's the Rain)" in regular script by the ci minister. Photographed by Yuan Xiuyue
Although Emperor Qianlong did write a good handwriting, it should be noted that not all the handwriting in the poem manuscript was written by him.
The curator Li Yizhou bluntly stated that these poem manuscripts include the imperial manuscripts with Zhubi written by Emperor Qianlong and his revisions on the ink transcript.
Take the example of the “One Red Manuscript of Qianlong’s Imperial Essays "A gentleman from Tian Xing Jian keeps on striving for self-improvement" and an ink manuscript Zhu Critic". The scarlet part is Qianlong’s own handwriting. Modified, the part in black is a transcription of the emperor's manuscript by the court official.
The Emperor Qianlong's essays "Tian Xing Jian, Gentlemen Are Constantly Striving for Self-Strengthening" Zhu Manuscript and Ink Manuscript Zhu Critic
This manuscript reproduces the whole process of Emperor Qianlong from the Zhu manuscript, to the ink manuscript Zhu's criticism, and then to the final ink manuscript writing.
Therefore, it is entirely possible that a "manuscript of Qianlong's imperial poems" was written by Emperor Qianlong with only a few words.
And the so-called "Qianlong imperial poem manuscript", we can not directly determine that it was made by Emperor Qianlong.
Among them, there are many handwritings transcripts by courtiers, and there is also the possibility of ghostwriting, but the Zhupi among them is generally considered to be the emperor's handwriting.
For example, the "Emperor Qianlong's Imperial Poem "Inscription on the Yellow Ding Sui Dynasty" Zhu Manu" is in red handwriting and should be the emperor's handwriting.
We can see traces of modification and scrutiny during creation.
The red manuscript of Qianlong's imperial poem "Inscription on the Yellow Ding Sui Dynasty" was made in the 41st year of Qianlong (1776)
At the same time, since these "zhu manuscripts" are informally written, they can better reflect the free and easy nature of his calligraphy.
This is obviously more individual than the neatly written pavilion body written by the courtiers.
In the "Manuscript of Qianlong Imperial Poems", the characters are not necessarily those of Emperor Qianlong. Are all the poems and prose works original by Emperor Qianlong?
You know, Qianlong wrote more than 40,000 poems in his life.
According to the impression of most people, he still has to review memorials, deal with military affairs, appreciate paintings and calligraphy... Such a "busy person" really has time to create a large number of literary works and personally review and revise it?
Emperor Qianlong's imperial poem "Agui Zou reported Jingzhou was ashamed of the poem because the sand in the Shuiyuanjiao Jinzhou was rushing to the water", and the ink manuscript was written in the 53rd year of Qianlong (1788)
When Emperor Qianlong came to the throne, he collected his early poems and essays into the "Complete Collection of Le Shan Tang", with a total of forty volumes, of which the most poems accounted for more than half.
It can be seen that Emperor Qianlong had many works when he was young.
The newly enthroned Emperor Qianlong stated in the preface of "The Complete Works of Le Shantang" that this complete collection contains his learning experience, but the works after ascending to the throne may have ghostwriters.
Therefore, there are rumors that some ministers once wrote "Imperial Poems" for Emperor Qianlong.
These statements made the Qianlong Emperor's massive poems gradually blurred in history, and even made people doubt the number of more than 40,000 poems.
The discovery a few years ago gave people hope to answer this question.
In 2014, many media reported that two boxes of 28,000 imperial pen poems by Emperor Qianlong were newly discovered in the Palace Museum and are being cleaned up.
Shan Jixiang, who was the dean at the time, introduced that there were both imperial manuscripts (zhubi) and ministerial manuscripts (inkbi).
Adding this discovery to more than 17,000 Qianlong poems in the warehouse in the past, the number reached more than 40,000.
The large carved lacquer box with "Qianlong Poems" found in the Palace Museum
Looking at it this way, Emperor Qianlong did put a lot of energy into writing poems.
Specific to the batch of cultural relics exhibited this time, the curator Li Yizhou introduced that Qianlong's process from creation to correction, addition and deletion can be seen.
The minister's role may be to check the allusions, or modify the details in the process of copying.
As for what kind of story is in Qianlong's more than 40,000 poems, further interpretation of more documents is needed.
(Finish)
Reference materials:
"An Overview of Qing Dynasty Imperial Poems", "Indispensable Precious Historical Materials for the Study of Qing History", "Five Kinds of Works by Shen Deqian", "The Literary Ecology of Beijing in the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty"