Guo Fuxiang

This seal has been broken in two and only one half of it remains. This remaining larger half, although still in very good condition, has been slightly calcified and has some very fine crackling, both of which suggest this seal had experienced a fire. Made of green jade and carved with a dragon knop, the dragon’s head is slightly raised with eyes looking forward, its body a little arched while strongly propped up by muscular limbs giving it the impression of great strength and ferocity. From the preserved portion of the seal, one can see that the dragon knop has been exquisitely carved and smoothly polished. The seal face is carved with carefully positioned characters in an even and balanced seal script. Originally carved with four rows of four characters, there are still the seven characters tian qi sheng Wen Huanghou bao that remain.

Based on the style of the carved dragon knop and the content of the seal face, one can tell that this is certainly a seal for a Ming dynasty empress, and that it was a memorial seal. The three characters Wen Huanghou tell us that the owner of this seal must have been the Empress of the Ming dynasty Emperor Yongle (fig. 1). There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, this seal corroborates documented records. The Empress was the eldest daughter of a Prince Zhongshan who had taken a key role in the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Empress Wen passed away in the fifth year of the Yongle reign (1407) and was respectfully given her posthumous name Renxiao Huanghou (The Benevolent and Filial Empress). After the Yongle Emperor passed away and the throne was given to Emperor Hongxi (r. 1425-1426), then known as Renzong (Zhu Gaochi), her name was yet again reverently changed to Renxiao ci yi cheng ming zhuang xian pei tian qi sheng Wen Huanghou (The Benevolent, Filial, Kind, Honourable, Heavenly Empress, see Ming Shi [The history of the Ming dynasty], vol. 113, fig. 2). When one compares the latter name of Empress Wen with the characters incised onto the face of this seal, one sees that the last seven characters correspond identically to those on the seal, and the characters ming, zhuang and pei can be also partially deciphered on the damaged side of the seal.

Secondly, the seal is made from the appropriate material. In the Ming dynasty, when an Emperor paid homage to a deceased ancestor, he would have had three identical seals made as a symbol of his respect. One would have been made of silk, one of fragrant wood and the last of jade. Of these ritual seals, the silk ones were made of paper and plaster. These would have been burnt after the memorial service was over and would not have been preserved through t.mes . The fragrant seals were made of wood and these would have been placed for burial at the Ming Tombs. The jade seals were collects ed and kept in the Tai Miao temple (fig. 3; The Tai Miao Temple served as the ancestral temple of the imperial family during the Ming and Qing dynasties and is currently the ‘Working People’s Cultural Palace’ on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing).

Presently, the only Ming dynasty imperial memorial seals are four wooden seals which were excavated from the Ming Tomb site in Ding Ling which belonged to the Wanli Emperor and his empress. Although these were made from li wood, there were many similarities with our present seal including their shape, the design of the dragon knop, and the seal face carved with characters in seal script in four columns. The Ming Shi records that the Ming dynasty memorial jade seals were: “seal script, 4.9 inches breadth, 1.2 inches thick, carved dragon knop.”

The question of why the memorial seals of the Ming dynasty have not been preserved once aroused the attention of the Qianlong Emperor, and he composed an essay dedicated to this question entitled ‘Shu Ming liedai yuce shi [On Ming dynasty jade books]’ (fig. 4). In this essay, Qianlong argued that although the Ming dynasty records of their seals were preserved, the objects themselves such as memorial jade seals either had their faces re-carved and transformed for Qing imperial use, or they were destroyed during the ravages of war during the fall of the dynasty. Seeing that this Empress Wen memorial seal has been partially damaged by fire, one can certainly see that the Qianlong Emperor’s theory holds true.
Since the Qianlong period, it was believed that Ming dynasty imperial memorial jade seals were no longer extant, and it is a wonderful occurrence that one should now appear hundreds of years later. Although this piece has been damaged, it is the only Ming dynasty Tai Miao temple memorial seal that still exists to date and its value cannot be truly understood.

郭福祥

這方玉寶，乍看之下並未覺得有何特別之處，但經過考證後發現，此寶卻是明代重要的典章文物。

此寶為一方殘損之印，僅餘原物的二分之一長，斷裂處已經變酥變白，其餘部分也有細微的裂紋，很明顯經過火燒。寶為青玉質地，盤龍鈕，龍頭完好，微微上揚，雙目前視，龍身微拱，兩腿用力支撐著身體，給人以威猛之感。從現存的部分可以看出，此寶龍鈕雕刻細膩，打磨光潔，顯示出相當高的工藝水平。印文為陽文玉箸篆，佈局嚴謹規範，每行四字，現僅存「天齊聖文皇后寶」七字。從龍鈕風格、印文內容可以判定這是一方明代皇后的印章，且是一方皇后的諡寶。其中的「文皇后」三字很明白地告訴我們此寶的受諡人是明代永樂皇帝的皇后（圖一）。作出這樣的結論主要有以下兩點依據：

其一，與文獻記載相符。永樂皇帝的皇后是明朝開國功臣中山王徐達的長女，永樂五年（1407年）薨逝，尊諡為「仁孝皇后」，明仁宗朱高熾即位後（1424-1425年在位，年號洪熙），上尊諡為「仁孝慈懿誠明莊獻配天齊聖文皇后」（詳見《明史》，卷113，圖二）。將史書記載的文皇后諡號與此次拍賣的文皇后玉寶印文相比，除現存的七字完全相同外，其餘不完整的各字如「明」、「莊」、「配」等也一一相合。

其二，與現有實物相合。明代上尊諡時所用諡寶共有三種，分別為絹寶、香寶和玉寶。其中絹寶用絹和紙糊製，上諡儀式完成後即焚化，世間不可能留存；香寶用木雕製，在梓宮入葬時安置於陵寢中；玉寶用玉雕製，尊藏於太廟（圖三）。現在發現的明代帝后諡寶只有出土於定陵的四方香寶，分別屬於萬曆帝及其皇后。均用梨木製成，方形，上雕盤龍鈕，印文為陽文篆書，四字一行。《明史》中記載明代玉諡寶為「篆文，廣四寸九分，厚一寸二分，盤龍鈕」。據此筆者在《明清帝后璽印》一書中對明代帝后的玉諡寶作過這樣的推斷：「這幾件諡寶都是盤龍鈕，與文獻記載太廟玉寶製度相符。由此可以推知明代藏於太廟的玉諡寶也是這個樣子，只是質地不同，做工相對精細而已。」將此文皇后玉寶與定陵出土的香寶對比，無論是印鈕形式風格，還是印文篆法佈局，都十分相似，如出一轍，可以確定香港蘇富比拍賣公司此次拍賣的文皇后玉寶為真品，同時也進一步證明了筆者的推斷。

明代帝后諡寶為什麼沒有保存下來的問題曾引起清代乾隆皇帝的注意，他在御製文〈書明列代玉冊事〉中曾作過專門考釋（圖四）。乾隆寫道：「若其玉寶，則固囫圇之物，磨去其字，仍然一寶，改製它器，隨意可成。且宋元近代，其冊寶胥不見於世，亦可證也。而明末經流賊之變，蹂躪兵燹，遷其重器，寶失而冊存，其理固然。」乾隆帝認為明代帝后玉諡寶或被改做它用，或毀於戰亂之中，即將拍賣的這方文皇后玉寶經過火燒且已不完整，可以證明乾隆帝的看法是有一定道理的。

從乾隆時期開始，人們便一直認為明代帝后的玉諡寶已經不復存在。現在這方文皇后諡寶幾百年後重現於世，實在令人慶幸。儘管此寶殘損，但作為目前所見唯一的明代太廟尊藏的諡寶，其價值卻不言而喻。

由古至今，從未有統治者失去民心後，仍能保住他的宗室重器……
怎能不謹慎恭敬？
乾隆四十七年清高宗〈書明列代玉冊事〉云：
「……未有失民心而能保其宗器者也……奈何不敬？奈何不慎？」

Lady Xu, the future Empress Wen (1362-1407, fig. 1), was the eldest daughter of the ‘Founding Meritorious Official’ Prince Zhongshan Xu Da (1332-1385), who supported the Hongwu Emperor to establish the Ming empire. Known to be modest and well-educated, Lady Xu was chosen by the Emperor to marry Prince of Yan Zhu Di (1360-1424), who was two years her elder, and obtained the title of Princess of Yan in 1376.

Lady Xu faithfully followed the teaching of her mentor, the highly respected Hongwu Empress Ma (1332-1382), and diligently mourned for three years following the latter’s death. During the Jianwen period (1399-1402), the Emperor forcefully restrained the power of the princes, leading to the rebellion of the Prince of Yan, who launched the Jingnan Campaign against the Emperor. When the Prince of Yan led his troops to battle in the North, the imperial army attempted to seize Beijing, which was then armed by only a small number of soldiers under the command of Lady Xu’s eldest son Zhu Gaochi (1378-1425). Thanks to Lady Xu, who encouraged all the wives of the soldiers to wear armour and take position at the gate together with the guards, Beijing survived the standoff. On July 13th 1402, the Prince of Yan entered Nanjing and ascended the throne as the Yongle Emperor. His wife was given the title of Empress in the 11th month of the same year.

As she cared about the welfare of the people, Empress Wen was not afraid to advise the Yongle Emperor on their behalf. For instance, she advocated for a period of recuperation after years of wars and for the employment of officials based on ability instead of political background. Her textual works include the 20-volume Nei xun [Teaching of the inner court] based on the earlier Nu xian [Admonitions of the instructress to the court ladies] and Nu jie [Lessons for women], as well as Quan shan shu [Exhortation to goodness], which promotes integrity and righteousness. Through kindness, diligence and thrift, Empress Wen led the consorts by example. To curtail corruption, she also suggested that maiden families should be reframed from accumulating political power. Understanding the profound influence a spouse was able to exert, she recommended the wives of senior officials to provide constructive political advice (for more details on the life of Empress Wen, see Ming shi [The history of the Ming dynasty], vol. 113: Liezhuan di yi. Houfei [biographies, part 1, empresses and consorts], pp. 9-10; and Zha Jizuo, ‘Xu Huanghou [Empress Xu]’, Zui wei lu [Pondering crimes, biographies, vol. 2]).

In the 7th month of the 5th year of the Yongle period (1407), Empress Wen suffered from illness and passed away at the age of 46. She was given the posthumous name Renxiao Huanghou (The Benevolent and Filial Empress) by the Yongle Emperor and was buried the following year at Changling mausoleum, Beijing. She was survived by four daughters and three sons, including her eldest son Zhu Gaochi, who succeeded the Yongle Emperor after the latter’s death on August 12th 1424. Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne as the Hongxi Emperor and reverently changed his mother’s posthumous name to Renxiao ci yi cheng ming zhuang xian pei tian qi sheng Wen Huanghou (The Benevolent, Filial, Kind, Honourable, Heavenly Empress, fig. 2), probably the original full inscription of the present seal. Indeed, it is highly appropriate that among all Ming dynasty imperial seals, only the seal of the virtuous Empress Wen has survived through the ages and continues to tell the story of one of the most powerful and conscientious ladies of the 15th century.

明末流寇四起，烽火遍地，如此重要的宗室器物，
自皇宮轉移至他處，期間玉冊得以保存，而玉璽散佚。
乾隆四十七年清高宗〈書明列代玉冊事〉云：
「明末經流賊之變，蹂躪兵燹，遷其重器，寶失而冊存。」

大明永樂仁孝文皇后徐氏（1362-1407年，圖一），比朱棣（1360-1424年）年輕兩歲，父親為開國功臣中山王徐達（1332-1385年）。洪武年間，太祖朱元璋得悉徐達長女「幼貞靜、好讀書」，認為如此賢淑，應與其子朱棣締結良緣，訂下婚約，並於九年（1376年）冊立為燕王妃。

她深得洪武高皇后馬氏（1332-1382年）寵愛，高皇后薨逝後，徐氏遵從高皇后遺訓，又為她服喪三年，守禮茹素，足見其慧德。建文年間（1399-1402年），皇帝削藩，燕王發動靖難之役。朱棣出兵大寧期間，長子朱高熾（1378-1425年）留守北平，卻遭御軍圍攻，幸得徐氏出言激勸將校士民之妻著甲登城，北平得以保全。建文四年（1402年）六月十三日，燕王即位，改號永樂，同年十一月冊封徐氏為皇后，母儀天下。徐氏體恤臣民，曾進言永樂帝，歷經多番戰事，國家應休養生息，又勸告唯才是用，不應以新疏舊。她摘錄《女憲》、《女誡》，編成《內訓》二十篇，又借古人嘉言德行，修成《勸善書》，頒行天下。徐皇后為人素儉，以身作則，祭祀誠敬，事上恭勤，教宮內嬪妃和睦相處，並主張不讓外戚干政，為後宮立下高尚的道德典範。她又勉勵朝廷重臣的夫人以民為念，多為天下百姓向丈夫進言（詳見〈成祖仁孝徐皇后〉，《明史》，卷113：列傳第一．后妃，頁9-10及查繼佐，〈徐皇后〉，《罪惟錄．列傳卷二》）。

永樂五年（1407年）七月，徐皇后因病薨逝，終年四十六歲，諡「仁孝皇后」，翌年葬於北京長陵。除長子仁宗朱高熾，另有兩子四女。永樂二十二年（1424年）七月十八日，朱棣北征期間駕崩，由皇太子朱高熾繼位，改元洪熙，追封亡母為「仁孝慈懿誠明莊獻配天齊聖文皇后」，應即此璽原刻印文（圖二）。作為永樂大帝之妻、一國之母，就十五世紀中國女性而言，徐皇后可謂權傾天下。她一生多弘仁德，慧賢後宮，憂國愛民，敢言勸諫，奠基永樂盛世有功。歷經六個世紀，朝代更迭，朱明諡璽俱佚，獨遺徐皇后一寶，誠然善有善報，好讓其賢能德行，傳流後世，千歲不朽。

我的子孫，以至百世後代，亦該守持我這種惶恐敬畏之心，
敬天愛民，不負天命所託。這是我的夙願啊！
乾隆四十七年清高宗〈書明列代玉冊事〉云：
「予之子孫，以至百世雲仍，亦以予慄慄危懼之心為心，而敬天愛民，以凜難諶，其庶幾乎！其庶幾乎！」

中國藝術品

皇后們的玻璃天花板 | 武則天與文皇后

The Qianlong Emperor, 1782

In the wuchen year (1748), I installed portraits of the emperors and empresses of past dynasties in the Nanxun Palace, and installed the jade books of the Ming emperors, previously stored at the Ministry of Works, in the western chamber of the palace. Owing to my youth at the t.mes , I did not question why the Ming jade books had survived but not the seals. After the jade books and seals of the Imperial Ancestral Temple had been remade, I decided to study the jade books of the thirteen Ming emperors, and this led me to ponder the reason that they lacked seals. The jade books are made mostly of jade strips, each slab consisting of four strips fastened together with strings. Is this not the meaning of the ancient phrase “jade slabs and golden strings”? Thereupon I came to a sudden realisation of the reason that the books have survived but the seals have not. Since each slab consists of four strips, and each strip is bored with holes, how could their creation not involve a lot of grinding and polishing? Yet if one detaches the strips, they become useless things. On the other hand, a jade seal is an integral object. With its inscriptions burnished away, it remains a single seal that can be remade into another seal freely. That Song and Yuan jade books and seals have rarely survived is telling evidence. At the close of the Ming dynasty, there was the chaos of banditry and much destruction by warfare. Important ritual objects were removed from the palace, and the seals went missing while the books survived. This is within reason. What is there to doubt? “Heaven is difficult to comprehend, and fate inconstant. Constantly to maintain virtue [is the way to] preserve one’s place as a ruler.” A survey of history reveals a pattern usually beginning with a virtuous founding emperor of a dynasty, followed by one or two generations, or two or three generations, wherein one of his successors would fail to uphold his virtue, thereby losing the inheritance of his ancestors. This loss was not due to heaven’s mandate, but to [the ruler] himself. Ancestral objects are of course precious, but the myriad people surpass these objects in importance. There has yet to be a ruler who could preserve his ancestral objects without maintaining the trust of the people, hence there are so few of them. How can one not venerate them? Such was my meaning when I had the jade books and seals installed at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Shengjing. My own sons and grandsons, and my descendants of a hundred generations, should take my trepidation and reverence into their own hearts; respect Heaven and love the people, and withstand that which is hard to bear. Such is my hope! Such is my hope!

乾隆四十七年　清高宗

原文：

予於戊辰年奉藏歷代帝后像於南薰殿，並弆勝朝列帝玉冊之貯於工部者於殿之西室，其時究年少，未問及於有冊而無寶也。茲因一律重造太廟冊、寶告成，因取明十三帝玉冊觀之，並思其有冊無寶之故。蓋其冊多用條玉，（四條湊成一板，以繩穿之。）此即玉檢金繩之遺義耶？於是憬然悟曰：此冊之所以存，而寶之所以失也。夫一板四條，而又有穿，成造時豈不費琢磨？然析其條，則為無用之物矣。若其玉寶，則固囫圇一物，磨去其字，仍然一寶，改製他器，隨意可成。且宋元近代，其冊、寶胥不見於世，亦可征也。而明末經流賊之變，蹂躪兵燹，遷其重器，寶失而冊存，其理固然，夫何疑之有？蓋天難諶，命靡常，常厥德，保厥位。歷觀諸史，開創者多賢，或一二世，或二三世，即有不常厥德，以致失其祖宗之業者。此非天使之亡，實自取其亡也。宗器固重，而九有萬民，其重於宗器，奚啻倍蓰，未有失民心而能保其宗器者也。而獨於宗器中計其歷久不失，斯亦小矣，奈何不敬？奈何不慎？是則予之弆徹出之冊寶於陪京之太廟者，其亦有深意耶！予之子孫，以至百世雲仍，亦以予慄慄危懼之心為心，而敬天愛民，以凜難諶，其庶幾乎！其庶幾乎！

釋文：

戊辰年，我將歷朝帝后像奉於南薰殿，並將明朝歷代皇帝的玉冊存於南薰殿西室。此前，明朝歷代皇帝玉冊一直存放在工部。那時我年紀尚輕，並未問及為何玉璽已佚而玉冊尚存。重造太廟玉冊及寶璽的功夫皆告完成後，我對前朝十三位帝王的玉冊研究了一番，並不禁猜想何以只有冊而無璽。這些玉冊以玉條編成（四條玉條以繩子穿起來湊成一板）。難道這就是古人所言的「玉檢金繩」？驀然間，我明白了為何玉冊能留存，而玉璽卻失傳。概因每塊玉板由四條玉條組成，而玉條皆需穿孔，其琢磨過程想必耗時；一旦解開繩子，散開的玉條則變成無用之物。至於玉璽，它是完整的個體。磨去刻字，它仍是一方玉璽，可隨時再刻新字，成為一方新璽。觀乎宋、元兩代的玉冊和寶璽，至今早已不復存在，就是一個明證。明末流寇四起，烽火遍地，如此重要的宗室器物，自皇宮轉移至他處，期間玉冊得以保存，而玉璽散佚，亦可理解，又何須疑惑呢？天意難測，命運無常，為君者務必時刻恪守德業，以保其位。縱觀歷朝的開國者多為賢人，但到了第二代、或第三代，總有一個繼位者無法恪守德業，以至失去了祖先留下來的功業。這並非天命所致，而是他自取滅亡。宗室器物固然重要，但天下萬民比宗器更重要。由古至今，從未有統治者失去民心後，仍能保住他的宗室重器。歷久不失者寥寥。怎能不謹慎恭敬？我將玉冊和寶璽奉存於盛京的太廟時，亦是懷著此心意。我的子孫，以至百世後代，亦該守持我這種惶恐敬畏之心，敬天愛民，不負天命所託。這是我的夙願啊！