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Lot Essay
The five-character inscription beneath the rim reads: Fang tang guanxiang yan, 'In emulation of a Tang [dynasty] "Observing Heaven" inkstone'.
The main inscription to the stone and box can be translated as:
The ancient sage observed heaven,
and put his ideas to pen.
Although the Eight Trigrams were drawn,
their principles were primodial.
Who has made this inkstone,
to expound on The Book of Change?
With four sides and four corners,
neither a square nor circle.
Further adding to yin and yang,
now all components are present.
Playful words to add on it,
choosing a stone to imitate it.
Dripping dew to grind ink red,
it will aid me to the end of the day.
Imperial inscription on the New Year's Day of the bingshen year
Followed by two seals: 'Sign of Virtue Within'; 'The enlightened mind is not too distant'
It is recorded in the Xiqing Yanpu that in 1749, the Qianlong Emperor selected ten particularly fine old inkstones in ancient forms and bestowed them each with a name. Three were dated to the Tang period, six to the Song period, and one to the Yuan. The first of these was an octagonal white Duan inkstone which the Emperor named Guangxiang and dated it to the Tang dynasty.
Twenty-six years after naming the Guangxiang inkstone, he ordered copies of it to be made such as the current example and a Duan stone example recorded in the Xiqing Yanpu and composed a poem to be inscribed on them. A further example in She stone was included in the exhibition, The Imperial Studio, Littleton and Hennessy, London, November 2009, and discussed in detail in the Catalogue, no. 15.
The main inscription to the stone and box can be translated as:
The ancient sage observed heaven,
and put his ideas to pen.
Although the Eight Trigrams were drawn,
their principles were primodial.
Who has made this inkstone,
to expound on The Book of Change?
With four sides and four corners,
neither a square nor circle.
Further adding to yin and yang,
now all components are present.
Playful words to add on it,
choosing a stone to imitate it.
Dripping dew to grind ink red,
it will aid me to the end of the day.
Imperial inscription on the New Year's Day of the bingshen year
Followed by two seals: 'Sign of Virtue Within'; 'The enlightened mind is not too distant'
It is recorded in the Xiqing Yanpu that in 1749, the Qianlong Emperor selected ten particularly fine old inkstones in ancient forms and bestowed them each with a name. Three were dated to the Tang period, six to the Song period, and one to the Yuan. The first of these was an octagonal white Duan inkstone which the Emperor named Guangxiang and dated it to the Tang dynasty.
Twenty-six years after naming the Guangxiang inkstone, he ordered copies of it to be made such as the current example and a Duan stone example recorded in the Xiqing Yanpu and composed a poem to be inscribed on them. A further example in She stone was included in the exhibition, The Imperial Studio, Littleton and Hennessy, London, November 2009, and discussed in detail in the Catalogue, no. 15.