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Lot Essay
The inscription can be translated:
Imperial territory forever secure, the way of the Emperor always prosperous; the Prince Xian, Buddhist name Jiqing; piously made in the 12th month of the first year of the Qianlong reign; with willing donations by the kind people in the House of the Prince Xian.
Xianqinwang was the official title of Emperor Yongzheng's brother, and the twenty-fourth and youngest son of Emperor Kangxi, whose given name was Yun'mi (later changed to Yin'mi). He was the Commander-in-Chief of the White Inlaid Banner clan in the Qing imperial army. Yun'mi was bestowed with the title, Xianqin Wang, in the 11th year of the Yongzheng reign (1733), when at the same time his nephew Prince Hongli (who later ascended the throne as Emperor Qianlong) was given the title Baoqinwang. One of Prince Yun'mi's most notable achievements was his involvement in overseeing the re-carving of the Chunhuage tie, on the command of the Qianlong emperor in 1769. The calligraphic text known as the Chunhuage tie was first carved onto stone in 992 AD, and was in the imperial collection of the Song emperor, Huizong. Prince Yun'mi died in the 38th year of the Qianlong era (1773). This bell was made for a Buddhist temple when his nephew became emperor as a wish for peace in his reign.
Bells such as this are used throughout China in temples and shrines, and its basic form has not changed for centuries. For a similarly decorated bell dated 'Eleventh year (1532) of the Jiajing period', see Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities - 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 137, pl. 125
Imperial territory forever secure, the way of the Emperor always prosperous; the Prince Xian, Buddhist name Jiqing; piously made in the 12th month of the first year of the Qianlong reign; with willing donations by the kind people in the House of the Prince Xian.
Xianqinwang was the official title of Emperor Yongzheng's brother, and the twenty-fourth and youngest son of Emperor Kangxi, whose given name was Yun'mi (later changed to Yin'mi). He was the Commander-in-Chief of the White Inlaid Banner clan in the Qing imperial army. Yun'mi was bestowed with the title, Xianqin Wang, in the 11th year of the Yongzheng reign (1733), when at the same time his nephew Prince Hongli (who later ascended the throne as Emperor Qianlong) was given the title Baoqinwang. One of Prince Yun'mi's most notable achievements was his involvement in overseeing the re-carving of the Chunhuage tie, on the command of the Qianlong emperor in 1769. The calligraphic text known as the Chunhuage tie was first carved onto stone in 992 AD, and was in the imperial collection of the Song emperor, Huizong. Prince Yun'mi died in the 38th year of the Qianlong era (1773). This bell was made for a Buddhist temple when his nephew became emperor as a wish for peace in his reign.
Bells such as this are used throughout China in temples and shrines, and its basic form has not changed for centuries. For a similarly decorated bell dated 'Eleventh year (1532) of the Jiajing period', see Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities - 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 137, pl. 125