“骈庆”:崇庆皇太后《万寿图》第三卷卷名考析

On The Theme of 骈庆(Pián Qìng) in The Painting Scroll 'Birthday Festival for Empress Dowager Chongqing'(Wànshòu Tú)

崇庆皇太后《万寿图》,是乾隆皇帝为祝其母六旬大寿而命宫廷画家绘制的一套长卷巨帙,共四卷,每卷卷首有御题名。第一卷自万寿山东宫门外绘至长河麦庄桥以东,题"嵩呼介景";第二卷自长河畔万寿寺起,绘至高梁桥止,题"川至迎长";第三卷绘西直门至西安门沿途场景,题"康衢骈庆";第四卷绘自西安门至皇宫太后寝殿寿安宫,题"兰殿延禧"。四卷题名,第一、第二卷与第四卷的题名都好理解,意寓崇岭长川为太后祝福,紫禁宫中为太后庆寿。惟第三卷"康衢骈庆"有些费解。"骈庆"从字面意思看,应为"双庆"。不过,无论画面的内容,还是相关史料记述,此图均应为庆皇太后六旬万寿而绘,但乾隆皇帝为此卷题"骈庆",又绝非随意而为。种种迹象表明,乾隆皇帝刻意将他六巡江南的首次选在了与皇太后六旬万寿同年。年初的南巡与年尾的万寿庆典,自始至终彼此呼应,相映成辉。本文通过对画面卤簿仪仗的考辨,确认此图是以规模宠大、阵容豪华的大驾卤簿来体现对南巡礼成的庆贺,由此完成乾隆皇帝"骈庆"的心愿。

The giant painting scroll named 'Birthday Festival for Empress Dowager Chongqing'(Wanshou Tu) which comprises four sections showing a series of occasions for the 60 th birthday celebration of Empress Dowager Chongqing who was the mother of Emperor Qianlong(乾隆),in the front of which was entitled each by Emperor Qianlong(乾隆) with 嵩呼介景(Song Hu Jie Jing) for the first section that landscapes from outside east palace gate next to longevity hill to the east of Maizhuang Bridge crossing the long river,川至迎长(Chuan Zhi Ying Chang) for the second covering the Longevity Temple by the long river through Gaoliang Bridge,康衢骈庆(Kang Qu Pian Qing) for the third presenting the scenes along Xizhimen Gate to Xi'anmen Gate,and 兰殿延禧(Lan Dian Yan X i) for the last section which depicts the sights from Xi'anmen Gate to the Palace of Longevity and Peace.It goes without saying that all the subtitles share the theme that wishes Empress Dowager Chongqing health and longevity,but the phrase of 骈庆(Pian Qing) for the third section which literally means double happiness or two congratulations is somewhat puzzling because the giant scroll thematically just focuses on the birthday celebration without any other shared subject.However,the analysis of the composition and historical materials came to the conclusion that Emperor Qianlong(乾隆) wrote 'two congratulations' as the title intentionally to express the congratulations for both his mother on the 60^(th) birthday and his first inspection tour to the south via such splendid and luxurious ceremonial occasions in the picture.