AN IMPORTANT CELADON JADE 'DRAGON' SEAL QING DYNASTY, SHUNZHI PERIOD

the substantial stone of square form, surmounted by a superbly worked dragon crouching on its four legs and its tail coiled behind, the muscular body powerfully rendered in openwork with a curved knopped spine and cross-hatched scales, the head detailed with large bulging eyes below thick brows, above flaring nostrils and a square jaw, surmounted by a pair of long horns sprung to the back with a flowing mane, the seal face worked with a border enclosing a four-character inscription reading Zhi Huanghou bao ('Treasure of Empress Zhi'), followed by an inscription in Manchu script, the stone of an even celadon colour veined with russet-brown inclusions

Collection of Sir George Sheppard Murray (d. 1928), Managing Director of the Mercantile Bank of India in Singapore, acquired in c.1900, and thence by descent, by repute.
Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 13th November 2013, lot 96.

The seal is in overall good condition with just bruises and tiny chips to the edges, including one to the corner closest to its right forepaw and one to the tip of its left horn respectively. There is also pitting to the stone, especially to the darker veining. The seal face is well preserved. The actual colour of the stone is richer than the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A Celadon Jade Seal of Empress Zhi
Guo Fuxiang

Among the various types of Qing imperial seals, one type was very unusual. It was not impressed on documents, books, or works of painting or calligraphy, nor even owned by the emperors and empresses in question within their lifetimes. Rather these seals were venerated in the Imperial Ancestral Temple as symbols of past emperors or empresses by their successors. They are known as yibao or posthumous seals. Currently on offer at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the jade seal of Empress Zhi was a posthumous seal that the Shunzhi Emperor installed in 1652 at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Carved from celadon jade with a finial in the shape of a crouching dragon, the seal measures 13.6 cm in height and has a seal face that measures 13.8 cm on each side. The seal text is in Manchu regular script and Chinese seal script, with two lines in each language, both reading 'seal of Empress Zhi'. Understanding this seal requires knowledge of the rituals performed at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the system of posthumous titles at the Qing court, which are discussed below.

A reigning emperor would create a posthumous seal for a deceased emperor or empress when giving the latter a posthumous title. Posthumous seals were thus direct results of the system of ancestral worship in pre-modern China. Emperors, kings, high officials, and scholars alike constructed temples for ancestral worship, in which they worshipped the spirit tablets and symbolic clothing of the deceased ancestors. The venerated ancestors all had honorary posthumous titles that generally celebrated their deeds and ethics in life. Systematic ancestral worship had a very long and continuous history in China, having been comprehensively developed already during the Zhou Dynasty. Prior to this, only the ancestors of the founder of a state were entitled to posthumous titles, and everyone else was known by the same name in life and in death. During the Zhou Dynasty, posthumous titles became widespread. As state rituals became increasingly sophisticated, the system of posthumous titles was revised. Ultimately it became a means for people of all strata of society to venerate their deceased rulers and fathers as if they were alive. In Chinese history, the posthumous titles of emperors and empresses were an important part of court rituals, which were highly and explicitly regulated. These included the sacrifices performed at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and rituals for the dedication of posthumous titles.

The Qing emperors’ practice of giving posthumous titles to their ancestors began during the time of Hong Taiji, Emperor Taizong. In 1636, when Hong Taiji accepted the honorary title of Taizong, he gave the posthumous title of Emperor Taizuwu to his father Nurhaci, who founded the Qing Dynasty, that of Empress Xiaociwu to his mother, and those of Zewang, Qingwang, Changwang, and Fuwang to his patriarchal ancestors of the successive past generations. From that time onwards, each Qing emperor upon ascending the throne had to officiate the ritual of giving posthumous titles to the former emperors and empresses. These posthumous titles followed a fixed format during the Qing. An emperor’s official posthumous title usually consisted of his temple name, a laudatory phrase, and finally a posthumous sobriquet. The length of the laudatory phrase, which consisted of a series of binomes, determined the length of a posthumous title. An emperor’s posthumous title tended to begin at twenty characters. An empress’s posthumous title tended to begin with the character xiao ('filial piety') and at twelve characters. The posthumous titles of Nurhaci, the rulers of the preceding four generations and their wives were unusual. The rulers had been posthumously elevated to the status of king (wang) in 1636 by Hong Taiji, and in 1648, after the Qing conquest of China, they were further given the honorary titles of Zhaozuyuan, Xingzuzhi, Jingzuyi and Xianzuxuan, and their wives correspondingly the honorary titles of Empress Yuan, Empress Zhi, Empress Yi and Empress Xuan. These earlier posthumous titles are relatively simple, lacking laudatory phrases.

As mentioned above, posthumous seals were created when an emperor dedicated posthumous titles to a deceased emperor or empress. In practice, each deceased emperor or empress would receive three posthumous seals, made respectively in silk, sandalwood and jade. After being ceremonially read, the silk seal was burnt at the altar of the diseased. The sandalwood seal was interred in the mausoleum, whereas the jade seal was dedicated at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Silk and sandalwood seals, not meant for posterity, were relatively simply made, whereas jade seals were made to last and thus finely designed and crafted from carefully chosen materials, taking tremendous amounts of labour and time. First, the Office of Manufacture (Zaobanchu) under the Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu) produced the seal block from jade according to specifications, and submitted its dimensions and condition to the Grand Secretariat. The Hanlin Academy wrote the Manchu seal text, and the Grand Secretariat the Chinese seal text. The Astronomical Bureau (Qintianjian) selected an auspicious date for their inscription, after which the Hanlin Academy sent its officials to the Grand Secretariat to verify the Chinese text, and the Grand Secretariat verified the Manchu text. When the completed text was found to be correct, the seal was passed to the Imperial Household Department and then to the Inner Clean Room (Neijieshi) Imperial Ancestral Temple for submission for use. When an emperor dedicated a posthumous title or modified an existing posthumous title of an emperor or empress who had already been buried, only a silk and a jade posthumous seal would be created.

The practice of housing posthumous imperial seals at the Imperial Ancestral Temple also evolved over time. In the first year of the Chongde reign (1636), the Ancestral Temple was established on the east side of Fuin Gate in Shengjing, but at the time only the deceased emperors’ and empresses’ spirit tablets were housed there. After the Qing occupied Beijing in the first year of the Shunzhi reign (1644), it built another Ancestral Temple on the west side of Duan Gate, but this temple likewise did not house jade albums and jade seals. In the seventh month of the second year of the Shunzhi reign (1645), the jade albums and jade seals of Taizu Wuhuangdi, Xiaoci Wuhuanghou, and Taizong Wenhuangdi were housed at the Ancestral Temple in Beijing—the first instance of this practice. In the second month of the ninth year of the Shunzhi reign (1652), the jade albums and jade seals of Sizu Kaohuangdi, Sizu Bihuanghou, and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang were also moved to the Ancestral Temple. From this point onwards, the jade album and jade seal of every deceased emperor and empress would be dedicated at the Ancestral Temple. Until 1888, the Imperial Ancestral Temple housed a total of 40 posthumous seals, belonging to emperors and empresses from Zhaozuyuan Huangdi through the Tongzhi Emperor. In the chaos of the early 20th century, the 40 seals in Beijing were lost and dispersed around the world. In the second year of the Xuantong reign (1910), the Qing court remade the seals, which are now mostly in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. Because of time constraints and financial difficulties faced by the court, these later creations were of a considerably lower craftsmanship than the originals.

The above historical facts indicate that there were two posthumous seals for each of the four emperors and empresses before Nurhaci. The first set was made in 1652 and had finials in the form of crouching dragons. The second set was made in 1910 and had finials in the form of entwined dragons. The Empress Zhi posthumous seal presently on offer was made on the order of the Shunzhi Emperor to honour the four early emperors and empresses and dedicated at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in 1652.

Empress Zhi was the wife of Fuman, the great-great-great-grandfather of Nurhaci. Fuman, of the Aisin Gioro clan, was a member of Jianzhou Left Guard of the Ming Dynasty. Between 1522 and 1542, he served as director of the Jianzhou Left Guard, a position he had inherited from his father. He led his clan in its migration to Hetu Ala, where they developed a sedentary lifestyle and no longer devoted themselves to hunting. The Jianzhou Jurchens thus became an agricultural society, which allowed their population to rise and their manufacture and crafts to flourish, forming the Jurchens’ economic foundation. Fuman was buried in the old town of Hetu Ala upon his death. In 1636, Hong Taiji, having declared himself emperor, gave Fuman the posthumous title of Qingwang. In 1647, the Shunzhi Emperor further promoted him as Emperor Zhi, and his wife Xitala as Empress Zhi.

From the above, we may conclude as follows:

First, the current seal is a rare and authentic Shunzhi-era jade created in or slightly before 1652. As is well known, the harvesting and crafting of rough jades and the use and collection of jades reached an unprecedented height at the Qing imperial court. Our understanding of Qing jades is based in large part on examples dating from the mid- to late-Qing periods, especially the Qianlong period. Research into Shunzhi- and Kangxi-period jades is lacking, primarily because of the paucity of definitively authentic examples. For this reason, a dated jade from these earlier periods, such as the lot on offer, is of great historical value and serves as an important reference.

Second, the present seal has artistic significance. It is generously proportioned. The carved dragon supports itself with four claws and stares ahead with a raised head. It is slender but spirited, with a robust and arched body and an up-turned tail. The carving of the sculpture is deep, while the inscription is rough and heavy and suggests a powerful hand. The lines on the dragon are engraved and were filled in with gold. Although the gold has been lost with the exception of the front left leg of the dragon, we may still imagine the splendour of its original appearance. In its decorative styling and in the articulation of the finial, this seal is identical to the posthumous seal of Zhaoyuanzu huangdi, also created in 1652, and now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Both are important illustrations of the style of Shunzhi-era jades.

Third, the present seal is valuable for history. It is a very important artefact providing us with valuable insights into the Qing system of state rituals for posthumous titles and imperial ancestor worship.

¹ Qing shigao [Draft history of the Qing dynasty], vol. 86.
² Ibid.
³ Guo Fuxiang, 'Qingdai dihou yifa yu Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai dihou yice yibao,' Palace Museum Bulletin, 1994, vol. 4.