崇庆皇太后六旬《万寿图》卷初步研究(上)

Preliminary Study of the Scroll Empress Dowager Chongqing’s Sixtieth Birthday Celebrations(Ⅰ)

故宫博物院收藏的崇庆皇太后《万寿图》卷,描绘了乾隆十六年时皇太后六旬大庆前夕,皇太后在乾隆皇帝的侍卫下由畅春园返回紫禁城时,沿途几十里迎驾的景象。本文在对画卷释读的基础上,论证了图中皇家仪仗的区别,特别是皇帝卤簿的等级,进而探讨庆典的历史背景、经费物料与画卷的绘画进程。指出皇太后六旬庆典在乾隆皇帝的亲自指挥下,规格最高,盛况空前,而该画卷不仅是皇太后三次万寿大庆绘图中最为详尽者,而且与康熙、乾隆万寿图卷相比,又是仅存的原本。是后人研究乾隆朝历史,尤其是宫廷礼制的重要图像资料,其中超逸于制度之外,却没有见诸文字记载的画面,更加彰显出图文互补的重要历史价值。

The Birthday Celebration painting scroll for the Empress Dowager Chongqing in the Palace Museum collection portrays the scene of her being greeted along the road of several dozen li on her way back from the Garden of Everlasting Spring(Changchun yuan)to the Forbidden City,guarded by the Qianlong Emperor(r.1736-1795).This article discusses the imperial paraphernalia depicted in the painting,especially those used by the emperor.On this basis,the historical background,expenditures,logistics,and the process of creating the paintings are explored in order to point out that,under the personal supervision of the Qianlong Emperor,the celebration enjoyed the highest and unprecedented prestige.The scroll is not only the most painstakingly thorough one among the Empress Dowager’s three birthday celebration paintings,but also the only surviving original in comparison with the scroll depicting the occasions for the Kangxi(r.1662-1722)and the Qianlong emperors.The scene depicted that went beyond ritual and institutional stipulations and never written down manifests the important historical value of comparing the visual and textural records.