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Lot Essay
This rare and historically significant imperial bowl bears an interesting four-character inscription, arranged with one character at each of the four corners of the normal six-character Yongzheng mark on its base. The four characters read: Jue sheng chang zhu, and these provide a clue both to the precise date of the bowl within the Yongzheng reign, and the location for which the bowl was intended. Literally jue sheng may be translated as 'awakening' or 'consciousness', while chang zhu can either refer to a Buddhist priest who does not leave his monastery, or simply mean 'to stay in one place for a long time'. In this case the reference is to the Juesheng Temple (the Temple of Awakening), the building of which was commissioned by the Yongzheng emperor in the 11th year of his reign (AD 1733). The temple was completed in 1735, and a stone tablet above the main gate to the temple, edged with dragons rising from water and flying through clouds, is inscribed by the Yongzheng emperor 'The Juesheng Temple Built by Imperial Order'. The temple was located in what was then Zengjiazhuang village - a place of rural tranquillity just outside the Xizhi Gate of the city wall surrounding Beijing.
The Juesheng temple was an important temple during the Qing dynasty where, from the time of the Qianlong emperor onwards, the emperor himself and other members of the imperial family and the court came to pray for rain in ceremonies that could last several days. In 1783 an imperial order was sent to have nine Buddhist monks chant the 'Great cloud requesting rain sutra' for seven continuous days (Evelyn S. Rawski, The Last Emperors - A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, 1998, p. 225), while in 1787 the temple was officially designated as a site at which to pray for rain.
This beautiful bowl, therefore, represents an important imperial project close to the heart of the Yongzheng emperor, which was to become part of court life and worship during a major part of the Qing dynasty.
Compare to a similarly inscribed bowl but decorated with a band of scrolling lotus flowers, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2011, lot 2953.
The Juesheng temple was an important temple during the Qing dynasty where, from the time of the Qianlong emperor onwards, the emperor himself and other members of the imperial family and the court came to pray for rain in ceremonies that could last several days. In 1783 an imperial order was sent to have nine Buddhist monks chant the 'Great cloud requesting rain sutra' for seven continuous days (Evelyn S. Rawski, The Last Emperors - A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London, 1998, p. 225), while in 1787 the temple was officially designated as a site at which to pray for rain.
This beautiful bowl, therefore, represents an important imperial project close to the heart of the Yongzheng emperor, which was to become part of court life and worship during a major part of the Qing dynasty.
Compare to a similarly inscribed bowl but decorated with a band of scrolling lotus flowers, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2011, lot 2953.