NPM film highlights Qing dynasty cross-cultural gems

2015/09/30

A National Palace Museum film charting the history of a 12-year copper etching project commissioned by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) premiered Sept. 24 in Taipei City.

“Documenting Victory in Etching” draws the curtain back on an artistic tribute started in 1759 to celebrate Qianlong’s victory in the pacification of the Dzungar Khanate. It features 16 original illustrations by missionary artists in imperial China such as Jean Denis Attiret, Giuseppe Castiglione, Joannes Damascenus Saslusti and Ignatius Sichelbart.

NPM Director Fung Ming-chu said the film shows how these beautiful pieces fused the traditions of Qing-era Chinese paintings with the perspective of 18th-century Western art after being made into copperplates by master engraver Charles-Nicolas Cochin at the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris.

“They are even more precious as an achievement of cross-cultural exchanges during that period given Qing China was typically averse to interacting with the West.”

According to Fung, NPM research shows that Qianlong was a man of magnanimity, willing to abandon stereotyping and prejudice in pursuit of artistic perfection. “Such an enlightened and progressive approach is faithfully captured by the painstakingly crafted illustrations that should be viewed as a masterful celebration of creativity,” she said.

The documentary, which stands as the best of its kind on the subject, attempts to unravel some of the historical mysteries surrounding the project. One of these is the whereabouts of illustrations lost during the Boxer Rebellion in 1899.

“Film researchers traveled to France and Germany in search of the missing items,” Fung said, adding that two of the original illustrations are on display at NPM and three at Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

Shot entirely in ultra high full definition, the documentary will be broadcast Sept. 26 to Oct. 11 on UDN TV and YouTube.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=237125&ctNode=2194&mp=9)