Plaque from a book, The Canon of Yao

Object Details

• Inscriptions

  Plaque .13 is dated and signed 庚申仲春月, 御書 “middle spring month of the gengshen year [27 February–27 March 1740], written by the Emperor,” and accompanied by two seals of Hongli, the Qianlong emperor (1711–1799; reigned 1735–96):

  Huixin buyuan『會心不遠』 (square intaglio)

  De chong fu『德充符』 (square relief)

• Label

  Jade books were produced by the imperial palace in the Qing dynasty to record important imperial edicts and transcribe sutras or classical texts. This jade book records the Canon of Yao, a text about the sage-emperor Yao's transference of his throne to an appropriate successor (the text was included in the ancient classic of the Shangshu).

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Transfer from the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Minerology, Smithsonian Institution

• Type

  Book

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1920s, 1870s

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Jade, Stone

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Books