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Lot Essay
The poem, which is a meditation on the Wulie river and its course, and headed "Imperial verses on a clear far flowing stream", is translated by R. Soame Jenyns and W. Watson in Chinese Art III, New York, 1982 rev. ed., p. 149. "The river Wu Lieh, laden with its silt, has become turbid through the heavy rainfall, but the husbandmen are cleaning the channels into which it flows. As it falls over the rock terraces it divides into nine streams and again the torrents unite into one. As they dash upon the rocks their sound is like sweet music, and flowing through the woods they reflect in their stillness the beautiful shadows like a mirror. Thus surrounded by the many rivulets flowing from their one source, the recluse rests himself and forgets for a space the turmoil of life".
The Wulie is the main river source that provides water for the Summer Palace (Bishu Shanzhuang) in Chengde. It is irrigated to enter the Palace from the north side, meandering through the eight lakes within the palace compound, and exit the Palace from the south side to rejoin the main stream.
A large stained ivory panel of this type, dated Qialong Jiaqing and mounted as a floor screen, is illustrated by Yang Boda in the exhibition catalogue, Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987, p. 102, no. 86.
The Wulie is the main river source that provides water for the Summer Palace (Bishu Shanzhuang) in Chengde. It is irrigated to enter the Palace from the north side, meandering through the eight lakes within the palace compound, and exit the Palace from the south side to rejoin the main stream.
A large stained ivory panel of this type, dated Qialong Jiaqing and mounted as a floor screen, is illustrated by Yang Boda in the exhibition catalogue, Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987, p. 102, no. 86.