《心寫治平》— 乾隆帝后妃嬪圖卷和相關 議題的探討

Abstract

《乾隆帝后妃嬪圖卷》(又名《心寫治平》，克利夫蘭美術館藏)呈現了清高宗(乾隆皇帝，1711-1799；1736-1795在位)和他的皇后和妃嬪共十三人的半身畫像。本論文主要探討與本卷圖像相關的三個議題：1）本圖卷的畫家與斷代的問題；2）擇列妃嬪畫像的原則；和3）本圖卷的圖像意涵為何。作者所使用的研究方法包括圖像的風格分析，個別人物的生平探討，以及與乾隆皇帝家庭生活相關的文獻研讀等等。根據研究結果，作者發現了本圖卷上所有的十三幅畫像應該是分別由一些不同的畫家，根據作於更早的個別畫像而重新作成的群像，因此風格並不一致。簡單地說，前面的十幅畫像可能是郎世寧(Giuseppe Castiglione, 1688-1766)與他的助理在乾隆二十六年(1761)到三十年(1765)之間以海西法作成的；而後面的三幅畫像則可能是另外一名宮廷畫家在乾隆四十一年到四十二年(1777-1778)之間，以傳統的中國畫法作成的。至於他們所根據的個別畫像最早的稿本年代(也就是被畫者剛被封為榜題上所示的頭銜的時間)可分別推斷為乾隆元年、二年、六年、十年、十四年、十六年、十九年、三十九年、和四十一年(1736, 1738, 1741, 1745, 1749, 1751, 1754, 1774, 1776)。圖卷上的十三則榜題都是乾隆皇帝的手蹟。乾隆皇帝從他四十一位配偶中，選擇出這十二位女子的畫像，完全依照他個人主觀的愛好。而他評估一位女子的賢德與否，主要是根據儒家賢德后妃的標準。至於這十二位女子畫像排列的順序，先是依照她們入宮時間的先後，其次再依她們位階的高低來排序。本圖卷的圖像意涵至少包含三個層次：首先，它展示了乾隆皇帝所享有的幸福美滿的家庭生活，以此證明他治家有方。其次，它反映了乾隆皇帝對儒家君子「修身、齊家、治國、平天下」的價值觀的認同與實踐。依此，他更能肯定自己身為聖主仁君的成就。再次，帝、后象徵乾、坤；圖中的一帝十二后妃象徵一日十二月；因此各幅圖像的祥和樂麗、位序井然，意涵著乾坤並濟、宇宙和諧、與終年安泰。這應是乾隆皇帝衷心所祈望的。

The Portraits of Emperor Qianlong and His Consorts in the Cleveland Museum of Art (also known as the Xinxie zhiping scroll) is an assemblage of thirteen portraits, featuring the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799; r. 1736-1795) and his twelve beloved consorts. This paper tackles three issues regarding the scroll: 1) the dating and attribution of the portraits, 2) the principle for the selection and the arrangement of the portraits; and 3) the iconographical implications of the portraits, based on stylistic analysis of the painting, biographical studies of the ladies portrayed, and historical documents related to the Emperor’s family life. According to the author, the first ten images were represented with modified Western chiaroscuro techniques by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and his assistants as part of a special project in 1761-1765, while the last three figures were painted in traditional Chinese style by another court painter in 1777-1778. However, the portraits in question were reproductions from their original models by the same artists in nine different phases: 1736, 1738, 1741, 1745, 1749, 1751, 1754, 1774, and 1776. The Qianlong Emperor arranged the portraits in their current order and he added all the inscriptions himself. His criteria for selecting these twelve ladies primarily lies in his subjective favor for them, based on his idea of a courtier’s virtues influenced by Confucian didactic values. The iconographical meaning of this scroll is multi-layered. First, it stands as an idealized pictorial record of the Emperor’s family life. Secondly, it reflects the Emperor’s philosophical identification with Confucian teaching, which expects a gentleman, especially a sage-ruler, to accomplish in his life the following virtues: refining oneself, maintaining one’s family in good order, ruling one’s country successfully, and governing the world in peace. Finally, it symbolizes everlasting universal harmony, for which the Emperor had always wished throughout his life.