An important imperial white jade ‘ziqiang buxi’ seal, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period | 清乾隆　御製白玉交龍鈕寶璽　印文：自強不息

A European private collection.

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3rd October 2017, lot 3623.

The Qianlong Emperor’s Imperial White Jade 'Ziqiang Buxi' Seal

Guo Fuxiang

An important characteristic of the Qianlong Emperor’s seals is that he had multiple seals of various materials bearing the same inscriptions. Among them Ziqiang buxi (‘Self-strengthening never ceases’) was one of his favourite seal inscriptions. At least 45 of his imperial seals bear this phrase, including the current lot. Made of white jade with a coiled dragon on top, this seal is worked with the four characters Ziqiang buxi. The seal was originally part of a set of three seals, the other two being respectively a frontispiece seal reading Xiangyong wufu (‘By heaven’s granting we enjoy the five blessings’) and Bazheng maonian zhibao ('Treasure of the Eighty-Year-Old Man Mindful of the Eighth Principle').

The Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) carefully orchestrated the significant events of his life, including his seventieth and eightieth birthdays in 1780 and 1790, the birth of his great-great-grandson in 1784 and his abdication from the throne to become the Emperor Supreme in 1795, and left a large number of material evidence and textual documentation of them. As products of these special moments and reflections of the Emperor’s state of mind, his imperial seals deserve our special attention. The present Ziqiang buxi seal is an artefact of the Qianlong Emperor’s eightieth-birthday celebrations.

The Qianlong Emperor’s eightieth birthday coincided with the fifty-fifth year of his reign. He regarded this as a highly auspicious event and a sign of heavenly blessing, one requiring a major celebration. A year beforehand, on the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1789, he had already begun planning the festivities, including the consideration of what tribute he would receive from the various provinces and vassal states, in addition to the venue and scale of their presentation. The manufacture of seals was an indispensable part of these festivities.

The Qianlong Emperor focussed his attention on the important Confucian classic Shangshu [The Most Venerable Books). According to the Hongfan (The Great Plan) chapter of Shangshu, after King Wu conquered the Shang, he sought Qizi’s instruction on the ‘Way of Heaven’. Qizi responded with the nine principles of emperorship, which the Qianlong Emperor believed to be “the origin of the imperial system that persisted throughout the ages… All connected to the single body and heart of the ruler”. The eighth principle, Nianyong shuzheng (‘Think as do the common people’), was consistent with the Qianlong Emperor’s own populist ideology. He therefore ordered seals made with the phrase Bazheng maonian zhibao (‘Treasure of the Eighty-year-old Man Mindful of the Eighth Principle’). He elaborated his reasons in Bazheng maonian zhibao ji: “The various seals I ordered made to commemorate the celebrations of my eightieth birthday and to impress on my various writings were all connected to the idea of Bazheng in the Hongfan chapter. Moreover, I intend to retire from ruling at eighty-five years, after completing six decades of the Qianlong reign. Although I am currently eighty years old, I am still six years away from retirement. As long as I bear the burden of emperorship, I am always conscious of my millions of subjects. How can I not be mindful of the Eighth Principle about regard for commoners? Regard for commoners is regard for the millions of subjects. According to Quli, ‘an eighty-year-old person is called mao’ because intelligence fades in old age. I have now reached eighty. Due to good fortune bestowed by Heaven, my body remains healthy. Handling ten thousand affairs every day, I do not show signs of mental deterioration. I must continue to motivate myself”. Thus, the Bazheng maonian zhibao seals did not only commemorate his birthday, but also reminded him not to neglect the well-being of his subjects. The earliest imperial seal bearing this text dates from the winter of the 1789, and was first used on the spring solstice of the following year.

Bazheng maonian zhibao was a primary seal in the set, which also included a secondary seal reading Ziqiang buxi. The latter phrase is excerpted from the section on the Qian trigram in the Zhouyi/ Book of Changes, another Confucian classic: “As Heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive to strengthen himself”. Why did the Qianlong Emperor select Ziqiang buxi to accompany Bazheng maonian zhibao? According to his own explanation, “I have always impressed my own writings with Ziqiang buxi. During the gengzi year, I had made a primary seal reading Guxi tianzi zhibao and an accompanying secondary seal reading Youri zizi (‘Still diligent every day’). To commemorate my impending eightieth birthday, I have commissioned a seal reading Bazheng maonian zhibao and an accompanying secondary seal reading Ziqiang buxi. Although there are many self-motivational phrases in the classics, none is more important than this one connected to the first trigram of the Book of Changes”. “After having the Bazheng maonian zhibao seal made, I had a Ziqiang buxi seal made to accompany it. This was similar to the pairing of the Guxi tianzi zhibao and Youri zizi seals created to celebrate my seventieth birthday. All these phrases are to motivate myself”. The phrase Ziqiang buxi as accompaniment to Bazheng maonian zhibao expressed Qianlong’s resolution to keep his subjects’ well-being in mind and to attend to affairs of state diligently. One senses an anxiety beneath Qianlong’s happiness about his eightieth birthday. The phrase Ziqiang buxi reflected this anxiety and was a form of self-admonishment.

After deciding on the pairing of the Bazheng maonian zhibao and Ziqiang buxi seals in 1789, the Qianlong Emperor began to order their large-scale production. As many as over 140 seals bearing the phrase Bazheng maonian zhibao were produced between the winter of 1789 and 1794 without interruption.

The primary seals Bazheng maonian zhibao were combined with various secondary seals. Most commonly, a Bazheng maonian zhibao seal was accompanied by a secondary seal reading Ziqiang buxi and another frontispiece seal, forming a set of three. The three seals had to be identical in material, colour and size, and housed together in the same case. The Qianlong Emperor himself likely chose the combination of a Bazheng maonian zhibao seal, a Ziqiang buxi seal and a frontispiece seal reading Xiangyong wufu. In his preface to Bazheng maonian zhibao lianju, he specified that the secondary seal read Ziqiang buxi and that the frontispiece seal read Xiangyong wufu. The latter phrase was excerpted from the ninth principle in the Hongfan chapter, “For enjoyment use the Five Fortunes; for authority use the Six Extremes.”Reflecting the Emperor’s joy and self-admonishment at the same time, over a dozen such sets of three seals was produced between the winter of 1789 and early 1794. The Ziqiang buxi seal currently on offer belonged to one of these sets of three seals.

The records of the workshops of the Imperial Household Department help us date the creation of this seal precisely. On the tenth day of the tenth month of the fifty-fourth year of the Qianlong reign (1789), “the eunuch Eluli conveyed the following imperial decree: Qixianggong (‘Palace of Auspicious Sign’) is tasked with selecting two sets of white jade seals, each set containing two seals and one frontispiece seal. So it was decreed. A piece of shanliao jade weighing 10 jin was procured, and was divided into two sets of seals. A drawing on paper of Song dynasty-style dragon seals was made and handed for inspection to the eunuch Eluli, who received the decree that the seals be made according to it: a drawing on paper of a Song dynasty frontispiece seal would be handed to the Mauqindian (‘Hall of Great Diligence’), which would then create the seal text; afterwards, the drawing and seal text would be handed to the Suzhou Manufactory for production. So it was decreed. On the twenty-sixth day of the tenth month, a sample Song dynasty-style dragon seal was created in wood for inspection. It was decreed that actual seals be created accordingly to the samples, and that the Suzhou Manufactory be tasked with this. So it was decreed. On the twenty-fifth day of the third month of the fifty-fifth year [of the Qianlong reign], Suzhou sent two sets of jade frontispiece seals, which were presented to the Mauqindian”. Although this particular record does not specify the texts of the two sets of frontispiece seals produced, other records of the same period indicate clearly that the sets of three frontispiece seals made by the Suzhou Manufactory during the tenth month of this year all read Xiangyong wufu, Bazhengmao nian zhibao and Ziqiang buxi respectively. The seals of one of these two sets have already appeared at various auctions: the frontispiece seal Xiangyong wufu was sold in this rooms, 23rd April 2003, lot 27, Bazheng maonian zhibao was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th April 2004, lot 1012 and Ziqiang buxi in our London rooms, 9th November 2016, lot 8.The current Ziqiang buxi seal can be confirmed as one of the other set based on the following considerations.

Firstly, the seal corresponds closely to the above entry. Its material of pale celadon-white jade of subtly variegated colours matches the shanliao jade mentioned in the entry. Similarly, the dragon finial on top of the seal has a powerful upturned head, a thin and tensile scaly body, matching the description of “Song dynasty-style dragon seal”. Thus we can conclude that the current lot was in one of the two sets of seals mentioned in the entry, created between the tenth month of forty-fourth year (1789) and the third month of fifty-second year (1780) of the Qianlong reign, designed by the Imperial Workshops and produced at the Suzhou Manufactory.

Secondly, the entry quoted above records two sets of three seals made from the same piece of shanliao white jade and inscribed with the same texts. The working of inscriptions of the two sets should thus be highly similar but not identical. In Qianlong Baosou in the Palace Museum, Beijing, the inscriptions are identical, which initially puzzled the author. However, Baosou, the Qianlong Emperor’s personal seal catalogue, now housed at the Musée Guimet, Paris, also records the two sets of seals together and confirms that their inscriptions are indeed similar but not identical. This indicates that the compilers of Qianlong Baosou carelessly impressed one set of two highly similar sets of inscriptions twice, an error that was later corrected in Guanghan Xingdou. Guanghan Xingdou also proves the authenticity of the present seal.

After ascending the throne in 1799, the Jiaqing Emperor organised Qianlong’s imperial seals and consolidated them in storage. The set of three seals to which the current lot belonged was likely housed in the Qianlong Emperor’s Dabaoxiang (‘Treasury Box’). It is unknown when it left the imperial court. Reflecting the sophistication of high-Qing Suzhou jade craftsmanship, the dragon finial on the seal is very intricate, and the working of the text assured, meticulous and orderly. The seal’s remarkable appearance allows us to reflect on the Qianlong Emperor’s thoughts and feelings late in his reign.

¹ Guo Fuxiang, Ming Qing Dihou Xiyin [Imperial Seals of the Ming and Qing Dynasties], Beijing, p. 154.

²  ‘Official communications’, in the tenth month, 54th year of Qianlong, First Historical Archives of China and Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong Neiwufu Zaobanchu huoji dang’an zonghui [Documents in the Archives of the Workshop of the Qing Palace Imperial Household Department], Beijing, 2005, vol. 51, p. 256.

來源

歐洲私人收藏

香港蘇富比2017年10月3日，編號3623

關於乾隆帝青白玉「自強不息」璽

郭福祥

乾隆皇帝寶璽製作的一個重要特點是用同一印文不斷刻製材質不同的寶璽，「自強不息」可謂其中的代表。據不完全統計，乾隆皇帝用「自強不息」為印文刻製的寶璽多達四十五方，¹ 此次香港蘇富比徵集到的「自強不息」璽即是其中的一方。此璽青白玉質，雲龍鈕，陰文篆書「自強不息」四字。此璽原是三方一組套印中的一方，另外兩方為「嚮用五福」引首和「八徵耄念之寶」璽。

乾隆皇帝（1711-1799年）的一生經歷了諸多對他自己來說具有重要意義的歷史時刻，比如乾隆四十五年（1780年）的七十萬壽、乾隆四十九年（1784年）的喜得玄孫五世同堂、乾隆五十五年（1790年）的八十萬壽、乾隆六十年（1795年）的退位成為太上皇帝等等，對於每一個這樣的歷史時刻,乾隆帝似乎都進行過精心的安排和籌畫，留下了大量可供後人追溯的文獻和遺物。在這些文獻和遺物當中，諸多御用寶璽是以這些歷史時刻為背景、以乾隆帝其時的狀態和心理為表達物件的特殊產物，無疑是值得我們特別予以關注的。此次香港蘇富比公司徵集到的「自強不息」璽就是乾隆帝晚年眾多與他八十壽辰有關的御用寶璽中的一方。

乾隆五十五年，年邁的乾隆皇帝又一次迎來了紀年逢五、聖誕逢十的正壽之年。在乾隆帝看來，自己登基五十五年又恰逢八十整壽，實與天地之數自然會合，是上天眷佑的結果，值得大慶特慶。因此，早在一年之前的乾隆五十四年的中秋，乾隆帝就開始了對慶典活動的籌畫，包括御殿受賀的地點、規模、各地及藩屬國萬壽貢品等等。依照成例製作相應的寶璽也是活動籌畫過程中必不可少的事項。

這一次，乾隆帝將視線落在了中國儒家文化重要典籍之一的《尚書》之上。據《尚書．洪範篇》記載：武王克商後，向箕子請教天道之義，箕子便以洪範九疇相告。乾隆皇帝認為箕子所陳洪範九疇是「萬世帝王制治之源，……無一不關於為君者之一身一心」。而九疇中的第八「念用庶徵」與乾隆當時的以萬民為念的想法正相一致，於是，據此擬定「八徵耄念之寶」的寶文。關於為什麼要用「八徵耄念」這幾個字刻製寶璽，乾隆帝自己在《八徵耄念之寶記》中是這樣解釋的：「思有所以副八旬開袠之慶，鐫諸璽，以殿諸御筆，蓋莫若《洪範》『八徵』之念。且予夙立願八十有五，滿乾隆六十之數，即當歸政。今雖八十，逮歸政之歲尚有六年。一日未息肩，萬民恒在懷。庶徵之八，可不念乎？念庶徵即所以念萬民。《曲禮》『八十曰耄』，老而智衰之謂。茲逮八十，幸賴天佑，身體康強，一日萬機，未形智衰，不可不自勉也」。可以說，八徵耄念之寶的刻製既是乾隆對八十萬壽的紀念，也是對自己的戒勉。最早的八徵耄念之寶刻製於乾隆五十四年冬天，並於第二年的立春日開始鈐用。

「八徵耄念之寶」只是一方主寶。除主寶之外，乾隆帝還同時選取了「自強不息」的寶文刻製成副寶，與主寶相配。「自強不息」源自同樣是儒家文化重要典籍之一的《周易》一書，其中「乾卦」有云：「天行健，君子以自強不息」。乾隆帝為什麼要選擇「自強不息」作為「八徵耄念之寶」的副寶呢？按照他自己解釋就是：「向有自強不息寶，以殿御書。庚子年鐫古稀天子之寶，副以猶日孜孜。茲以壽躋八旬，鐫八徵耄念之寶，仍副以自強不息。蓋經書中自儆之語雖多，而易象首乾，法天行健，至為切要者，無踰於此語。」「予既鐫八徵耄念之寶，複副以自強不息，亦猶七旬時刻古稀天子之寶，副以猶日孜孜，皆銘乾惕之志也。」可見選取「自強不息」作為「八徵耄念之寶」的副寶，就是要表明他在歸政之前不敢稍存懈怠，以天下百姓為念，孜孜求治，勤於政事的意旨。不難看出，乾隆帝在為自己壽躋八旬深感得意的時候，同樣隱隱流露出內心深處那種不自覺的憂患意識。而「自強不息」正是這種憂患意識的反映，是對自己的一種鞭策。

乾隆皇帝於乾隆五十四年（1789年）擬定了「八徵耄念之寶」和副寶「自強不息」之後，便開始了大規模的新寶璽的製作。這種以「八徵耄念之寶」為核心寶璽的製作從乾隆五十四年冬天一直持續到乾隆五十九年，製作總量超過一百四十方。

在乾隆時期製作的與「八徵耄念」有關的寶璽中，有各種不同的組合形式。最為常見的是將主寶「八徵耄念之寶」和副寶「自強不息」與另外一方引首寶相配，形成三方一套的組寶。這種組寶要求三方寶的質地、顏色、大小都一樣，共裝於同一匣中以備應用。其中一種為主寶「八徵耄念之寶」和副寶「自強不息」與引首寶「嚮用五福」組成的固定搭配，應該是出於乾隆帝自己的選擇和意願。因為乾隆帝在《八徵耄念之寶聯句》序言中特別談到了這三方寶璽的關係：「得壽偕宣鼓之成，計字協羲爻之畫。引之嚮用，副以健行。佩押紐以交龍，座侑觴而稱兕。」並特別注明副章曰自強不息，引首曰嚮用五福。「嚮用五福」取自洪範九疇中的第九「嚮用五福，威用六極」。乾隆帝之所以要選取「嚮用五福」四字與主、副寶組成固定搭配，表達的是同樣的得意而又自我鞭策的心境。這種固定的組合只在乾隆五十四年冬至乾隆五十五年初有過比較集中的製作，數量有十幾套之多。此次香港蘇富比公司徵集到的「自強不息」璽就是這種形式的三方一套組璽中的一方。

透過清宮《內務府造辦處活計檔》的記錄，可以使我們瞭解此方寶璽製作的具體時間。乾隆五十四年「十月初十日，太監鄂魯裡傳旨：著啟祥宮挑白玉畫寶二份，每分寶二方、引首一方。欽此；隨挑得新交出山料玉一塊，重十斤，上畫得墨道寶二份。隨畫宋龍寶紙樣一張，交太監鄂魯裡呈覽，奉旨：照樣准做。將宋龍寶引首紙樣一張，交懋勤殿篆本文，得時交發蘇州織造徵瑞成做，欽此；於十月二十六日雕得宋龍鈕寶木樣呈覽，奉旨：照樣准做，交發蘇州織造徵瑞成做，欽此；於五十五年三月二十五日蘇州送到玉引首寶二份，呈進交懋勤殿訖。」² 這條檔案雖然沒有標明所製作的二份引首寶的印文內容，但從同時期有明確印文記錄的活計檔案來看，本年十月發交給蘇州製作的三方一份的引首寶所刻印文都是「嚮用五福」、「八徵耄念之寶」和「自強不息」。這兩份組璽中的一組已經出現在不同的拍賣會上，其中「嚮用五福」引首章於2003年香港蘇富比公司春拍、「八徵耄念之寶」於2004年香港佳士得春拍、「自強不息」璽於2016年倫敦蘇富比秋拍中分別成交。而此方「自強不息」璽經過研究確定是屬於另外一組中的一方。依據如下：

一是檔案中的相關資訊與此方「自強不息」璽本身顯示出的特點十分吻合。如此方「自強不息」璽的材質為青白玉，玉的顏色呈現出深淺不一的細微變化，與檔案中「山料玉」的記錄一致。又如此方「自強不息」璽的雲龍鈕，龍頭昂首有力，龍身細勁，滿雕細密的龍鱗，與檔案中「宋龍鈕」的形制正相一致。據此可以推斷檔案中記錄的兩套山料玉宋龍鈕引首寶組璽中就包括此方「自強不息」所在的那套組璽，並由此得知此方「自強不息」璽製作於乾隆四十四年十月至四十五年三月之間，由北京造辦處設計，蘇州織造玉工具體製作完成。

二是前述檔案記錄的兩套「嚮用五福、八徵耄念之寶、自強不息」組璽是用一塊山料白玉刻製的，印文也用的是同一印稿。因此可知兩套組璽的印文應該非常相似，但不可能完全一致。而在北京故宮所藏的《乾隆寶藪》中，這兩套組璽的鈐本卻是一模一樣，這一度使筆者感到十分困惑。後查閱法國吉美博物館所藏的《乾隆寶藪》印譜，發現這兩套組璽的鈐本都有收錄，並且是放在一起的。可以看出，在該印譜中這兩套組璽的印文很相似但有不同，而其中一套組璽中的「自強不息」璽正與此次香港蘇富比徵集到的「自強不息」璽印文完全一致。由此可知在製作北京故宮《乾隆寶藪》過程中，由於當時相關人員的疏忽，將兩套同時製作極為相似的組璽中的一套鈐蓋了兩次，從而使另一套同文組璽漏載。這一疏忽在製作吉美《乾隆寶藪》御用璽印譜時得到糾正，也為香港蘇富比此方「自強不息」璽的認定提供了依據。

嘉慶皇帝親政後（1799年），按照成例對乾隆皇帝的寶璽進行整理，將散存於各處的乾隆皇帝御用璽印收存統一保存，這方「自強不息」所在的組璽極有可能是在那個時候被統一存放於乾隆皇帝的大寶箱中。至於何時流出宮廷，則不得而知。此璽雲龍鈕雕製十分精細，刻製印文的手法極為流暢爽利，中規中矩，嚴謹規範，體現出當時蘇州玉工高超的琢玉水準。它的出現，讓我們再次聚焦乾隆皇帝晚年的所思、所想和所感，值得關注。

¹ 郭福祥，《明清帝后璽印》，北京，2003年，頁154。

² 乾隆五十四年十月「行文」，見中國第一歷史檔案館、香港中文大學文物館合編，《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總匯》，北京，2005年，卷51，頁256。