马车与炮车:马戛尔尼使团礼品中的“舆盖”

Gift Chariots and Gun Carriages of the Macartney Mission

乾隆五十八年(1793年),英国马戛尔尼使团带来的礼品中包含三辆马车和八门炮车。使团离开后,两对马车和炮车被对称布置于静宜园和清漪园的勤政殿,开创了礼仪性宫殿陈设的新模式。继而与其他国家礼品一起,由如意馆绘制多卷《舆盖图》,陈设于紫禁城内重要宫殿,并收入《石渠宝笈三编》,成为皇帝个人武功和国家权力的纪念物。咸丰十年(1860年),炮车被带回英国,马车则可能毁于浩劫。

In 1793,the British Macartney mission brought three chariots and eight gun carriages as gifts to the emperor.After the departure of the mission,two pairs of chariots and gun carriages were arranged symmetrically in the Qinzheng halls in the Jingyi Garden and the Qingyi Garden,creating a new model for ceremonial palace furnishings.Subsequently,the Ruyi pavilion drew several volumes of painting scrolls of these gifts together with other national gifts,and displayed the scrolls in important palaces in the Forbidden City.The scrolls were also included in the third volumes of the Shiqu Baoji,which were monuments to the emperor’s personal achievements and state power.In 1860,the gun carriages were brought back to England,while the chariots may have been destroyed during the havoc.