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Lot Essay
The present set of spinach-green jade book leaves is remarkable for its generous use of jade, meticulously carved inscriptions, and historical importance. Rare books of this kind from the Qing dynasty continued an ancient tradition of recording secular and temporal rites. During the Qing period, palace regulations specified that jade books were presented to an empress, empress dowager, or grand empress dowager, sometimes in lieu of a gold book or seal, upon her appointment or receipt of an honorary title.
The current jade book are dated to the eighth month of Guimao, the first year of Yongzheng, corresponding to 1723. The inscriptions commemorate the conferral of an additional posthumous title on Empress Xiao Kang Zhang (1640-1663), the paternal grandmother of the Yongzheng Emperor. In the lengthy inscription, Yongzheng praises her extraordinary elegance, self-discipline, and exemplary management of the inner palace household. The emperor expresses endless longing for her guidance and adds the title of Wen Mu to the Empress, concluding the praises with displays of filial piety and wishes for universal peace for the next ten thousand years. The inscriptions on the present jade book are documented in Huangchao wenxian tong kao [Imperial Comprehensive Investigations based on Literary and Documentary Sources], volume 240, published by the scholar-official Zhang Tingyu in 1787 during the Qianlong period. This publication records the rules and regulations at the Qing court from the founding of the Qing dynasty to the 57th year of the Qianlong reign (1785).
Although Empress Xiao Kang Zhang passed away at the young age of 24, she nevertheless achieved numerous advancements at the palace from a low-rank consort at the age of 13. According to Qing Shi Gao (Draft History of Qing), published by Zhao Erxun in 1927, in the spring of the 11th year of the Shunzhi period (1654), when Empress Xiao Kang Zhang (née Tong Jiashi) was pregnant, the empress dowager saw light shining from Xiao Kang Zhang’s sleeves as if dragons were protecting her. Thus, the Empress dowager predicted that Xiao Kang Zhang would bring great fortune after giving birth to a son. Xiao Kang Zhang’s son eventually succeeded to the throne and became the Kangxi Emperor.
Similar jade books conferring titles of honor to late sovereigns are recorded, inscribed with further text outlining the achievements of the pertinent deceased emperor. The first of these examples is illustrated by W. Watson, Chinese Jade Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 1963, p. 34, pl. 8, dated to 1648, which records a conferment by the Emperor Shunzhi to his ancestor in the sixth generation. Another set of ten jade tablets in the Shenyang Palace Museum was included in the exhibition, Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty, The Empress Place, Singapore, and illustrated in the catalogue, p. 28, together with its original yellow silk book jacket. The Shenyang Palace jade book is dated to the first year of Qianlong (1736) and honors his great-grandfather, the Emperor Shunzhi. A set of Kangxi-period jade books with similar carved gilt dragon decoration, consisting of five tablets, was sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 16 December 2010, lot 264, and another book set of 10 tablets was sold at Christie’s New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1805.
The current jade book are dated to the eighth month of Guimao, the first year of Yongzheng, corresponding to 1723. The inscriptions commemorate the conferral of an additional posthumous title on Empress Xiao Kang Zhang (1640-1663), the paternal grandmother of the Yongzheng Emperor. In the lengthy inscription, Yongzheng praises her extraordinary elegance, self-discipline, and exemplary management of the inner palace household. The emperor expresses endless longing for her guidance and adds the title of Wen Mu to the Empress, concluding the praises with displays of filial piety and wishes for universal peace for the next ten thousand years. The inscriptions on the present jade book are documented in Huangchao wenxian tong kao [Imperial Comprehensive Investigations based on Literary and Documentary Sources], volume 240, published by the scholar-official Zhang Tingyu in 1787 during the Qianlong period. This publication records the rules and regulations at the Qing court from the founding of the Qing dynasty to the 57th year of the Qianlong reign (1785).
Although Empress Xiao Kang Zhang passed away at the young age of 24, she nevertheless achieved numerous advancements at the palace from a low-rank consort at the age of 13. According to Qing Shi Gao (Draft History of Qing), published by Zhao Erxun in 1927, in the spring of the 11th year of the Shunzhi period (1654), when Empress Xiao Kang Zhang (née Tong Jiashi) was pregnant, the empress dowager saw light shining from Xiao Kang Zhang’s sleeves as if dragons were protecting her. Thus, the Empress dowager predicted that Xiao Kang Zhang would bring great fortune after giving birth to a son. Xiao Kang Zhang’s son eventually succeeded to the throne and became the Kangxi Emperor.
Similar jade books conferring titles of honor to late sovereigns are recorded, inscribed with further text outlining the achievements of the pertinent deceased emperor. The first of these examples is illustrated by W. Watson, Chinese Jade Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 1963, p. 34, pl. 8, dated to 1648, which records a conferment by the Emperor Shunzhi to his ancestor in the sixth generation. Another set of ten jade tablets in the Shenyang Palace Museum was included in the exhibition, Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty, The Empress Place, Singapore, and illustrated in the catalogue, p. 28, together with its original yellow silk book jacket. The Shenyang Palace jade book is dated to the first year of Qianlong (1736) and honors his great-grandfather, the Emperor Shunzhi. A set of Kangxi-period jade books with similar carved gilt dragon decoration, consisting of five tablets, was sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 16 December 2010, lot 264, and another book set of 10 tablets was sold at Christie’s New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1805.