Glimpses of imperial China in Singapore
MANILA, Philippines - Around the environs of the Singapore River, where high-rise structures meet colonial and classical architecture, stands the Asian Civilisations Museum. The white edifice fronting the river was first built in the 1860s to house government offices. It is, today, the only museum in the region that explores the very diverse cultures of Asia and its proud heritage.
On view in the museum from March 13 to June 14 is a gem of an exhibit featuring treasures from China’s Forbidden City, associated with the life and times of the Kangxi emperor who ruled China for 61 years (1662 to 1722). The Kangxi emperor was known as one of China’s great rulers, ruling with a firm hand, embracing ideas from the West in science and technology, and pursuing artistic excellence. While all the emperors of China were patrons of the arts as both their stature and tradition dictated, it is said that some of the most beautiful objects ever produced in China’s long history were from the Kangxi period.
The exhibit features 80 rare objects from the Palace Museum in Beijing, also the first time such objects have traveled to Southeast Asia. It is everything you would expect from the arts of imperial China — exuding sheer refinement, elegance and sublime beauty — all of it rich in symbolism and meaning. Beyond the treasures from a historic period, the emperor himself rises as a dynamic and multi-faceted figure — the kind of leader we wish we had more of these days. He hailed from the Manchu dynasty, a northeastern ethnic minority in China that rose to power through military prowess. The Kangxi emperor came to the throne at the time when China was weakened by internal conflict after the Ming dynasty, but managed to unify the Han Chinese majority with the Manchus and the Mongols.
Long before Abraham Lincoln put his team of rivals together, this emperor recruited rival Han Chinese talents to join his administration. Of particular concern to the emperor was the control of China’s rivers to avert regular and disastrous floods. He conducted long inspection tours of the Southern Chinese provinces to oversee flood control works and assess the living conditions there. Such tours were depicted on long silk scrolls. One of the highlights of the exhibit is a scroll that is over 22 meters in length recording his second inspection tour in 1689. It details a scenic landscape of farmlands, foot-bridges, canals, temples, floating barges and traditional stone-dwellings. This is one of 12 such scrolls that commemorate his second inspection tour and took the court artists six years to complete.
Since the early days, the Chinese emperor was seen as the “Son of Heaven.” As a supreme being, the emperor had to be all things to all people. It appeared that the Kangxi Emperor lived up to that mandate as he held daily audiences with senior officers of the civil service throughout his reign, and devised a system known as “zouzhe,” which allowed him to receive direct information from key officials. He was sensitive to the Confucian values long held by the Han Chinese majority, and supported Chinese scholarship to win the support of the Han Chinese elites.
The official seal of the Kangxi Emperor shown here is of a hornless coiling dragon carved on top of a block of jade — symbolizing the desire to promote scholarship and education. The seal was used for books, which formed part of the palace collection, as well as those given to his subjects. In 1710, he commissioned the “Kangxi Dictionary,” said to be the most extensive dictionary produced in the history of imperial China, consisting of entries for 47,035 Chinese characters. It remains to this day a valuable resource for scholars of the Chinese language.
In the palace workshops during the Kangxi period, fine porcelain pieces painted with images of the “magu,” a fairy who in Chinese legend was said to brew a wine of immortality, and the peach representing longevity. These objects were commissioned as birthday presents to wish the recipients a long life. Natural objects such as the bamboo, which represents resilience, the lotus for purity and the peach for longevity symbolized cherished virtues in the Chinese culture and were often depicted in various objects of art. During his time, Kangxi ordered the revival of the imperial kiln complex, which was ravaged by the civil wars of the 1670s. Some of the most delicate pieces of porcelain shown here, such as the vase with a lotus motif and the snuff bottles with painted enamels, were directly commissioned by the emperor and were products of the palace workshops.
The use of European enamels in Chinese porcelain began in the Kangxi period. It allowed for a wider and more brilliant range of colors, which then gave the decorative elements of the pieces greater realism. The palace workshops also turned out the emperor’s robes and other articles for ceremonial wear. The Kangxi emperor’s yellow court robe and yellow socks, both of richly embellished silks, were used for imperial audiences and court rituals. The dragon motif that is embroidered on the silk socks is a traditional Han Chinese symbol of imperial power. The color yellow was strictly for the use of the emperor and the empress — symbolizing the earth, life and nourishment.
For all that the emperor had done to put China on the path of peace and prosperity, there was little he could do about the pain and tragedy that visited his life. All three of his empresses had died while he was at the prime of his life, and his favorite son chosen to be the heir-apparent proved to be a disappointment. Still, the Kangxi Emperor was the head of an unusually large household that included three empresses, over 50 concubines and 55 children. His successors — the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors — further enhanced the prestige and power of the Manchu or Qing dynasty. A towering presence in the life of the Kangxi Emperor was his paternal grandmother, Empress Xiaozhuang Wen.
The Grand Empress Dowager was a descendant of Genghis Khan and known as a formidable person, a well-regarded figure in the Qing court. She personally took charge of the upbringing and education of Kangxi, who lost both his parents in childhood, and in later years when he became emperor, gave him guidance in political matters. Her portrait shown in this exhibition is striking in its simplicity and departs from most formal court portraits — here she is painted in everyday attire, holding a Buddhist rosary in hand. She is the image of a wise, and self-assured woman.
Few would have known or guessed that an ethnic minority from China’s Northeastern parts would eventually rule the nation for 267 years, much less that it would be the last imperial dynasty of China. What is most remarkable is that a dynasty that was built through military expansionism was one that would lay the foundations for peace, prosperity and artistic excellence. The Kangxi Emperor never forgot his roots but adapted to the demands of present realities and the winds of change. He personally led his troops in battle, conducted regular inspections of the “ Eight Banner” armies to check on the preparedness of the army, and in the early years of his reign, defended the nation against internal and external threats. Yet he was a man dedicated to learning — imbibing the Confucian values of the Han Chinese majority — and an avid student of western sciences and ancient Chinese arts.
The life and times of the Kangxi Emperor suggests that the best leaders take what is good in the past even as they must look ahead. Long after conquests and battles are over — only art remains to tell the story of a culture, a people, their heritage and the leaders that shaped their destiny.
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