dumbfoundry

Qing emperor's poetry book to be auctioned [China]:

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A book of poems believed to be written by the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong Emperor, will be auctioned on November 21, reported China Radio International on Tuesday.

The 40-page book, with an estimate value of 2.8 to 3.5 million yuan, or about 400,000 US dollars, was robbed from Beijing's Agriculture Altar by the Eight Power Allied Force a century ago.

The owner of the book, who is reluctant to give his name, says he bought the book some time ago from an elderly man.

Historians say the Qianlong Emperor used to visit the Agriculture Altar, where he wrote many of the poems that are contained in the book.

Sources say the representatives from the Agriculture Altar will bid for the book.

The book was robbed from Beijing's Agriculture Altar? By the Eight Power Allied Force? A century ago?

What? Who? When? You think you know something, and then you know nothing.

Eight Ancient Altars in Beijing:

The Altar of the God of Agriculture was the site of imperial sacrifices dedicated to the cult if Shennong, the legendary "first farmer" of China. It is located in the southern district of the city, directly to the west of the Temple of Heaven, and occupies a total area of three square kilometers. The altar itself, which faces south, is 1.5 meters. The hall to the north houses the sacred tablets and is provided with a platform for "observing the harvest."

The Eight-power Allied Forces Through Foreigners' Camera:

September 7, 2001 marks a special day for China and even some developed countries. On this day one century ago, namely, September 7, 1901, the Eight Power Allied Forces formed by Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Austria and Italy forced the Qing Government to sign the most insolent and unequal Protocol in human civilization. That year was the Year of Xinchou in Chinese lunar calendar, so the Protocol, officially the Protocol of 1901, is historically known as the Protocol of Xinchou. Photos in this illustrated book present a true picture of this period of history.

Qianlong Emperor:

The Qianlong emperor was also a major patron of the arts. The most significant of his commissions was a catalogue of all important works on Chinese culture, the Siku quanshu (????). Produced in 36,000 volumes, containing about 3450 complete works and employing as many as 15,000 copyists, the entire work took some twenty years. It preserved many books, but it was also intended as a means of ferreting out and suppressing those deemed offensive. Some 2300 works were listed for total suppression and another 350 for partial suppresion. The aim was to destroy the writings that were anti-Qing or rebellious, that insulted previous "barbarian" dynasties, or that dealt with frontier or defense problems.

Qianlong was a prolific poet and a collector of ceramics, an art which flourished in his reign; a substantial part of his collection is in the Percival David Foundation in London.

This entry was posted by eeksypeeksy on Tuesday, November 09, 2004 at 2:30 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.