"Ruyuan Garden Forty Scenes Scroll" (The First Scroll in the World)

Author: National Museum of China, China Collectors Association
Publisher: Not available
Publication Date: Not available
Features: The Old Summer Palace, once hailed as the "Garden of Gardens," was a symbol of Eastern civilization, revered by all for its magnificent scale, exquisite architecture, and rich collections, leaving the world in awe. The great French literary figure Victor Hugo once remarked: "Just imagine it as a building." "It is an unparalleled masterpiece that leaves one speechless." "Even if all the treasures of our churches (France) were combined, they could not rival this magnificent and splendid Eastern museum." Today, this marvel no longer exists. For over a century, people have imagined its former glory and grandeur from the traces left in this famous garden or the splendid descriptions by countless celebrities. What did the Old Summer Palace look like? What was its charm? The "Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" treasured scroll lifts the veil of its mysterious beauty. This scroll was acquired by the National Museum of China at a high cost from the original plates of the Old Summer Palace in the French National Library and was meticulously printed on silk by hand. People can appreciate the magnificent scenery of the Old Summer Palace in its prime from this scroll. At its peak, the Old Summer Palace had multiple garden landscapes, including Changchun Garden, Qichun Garden, and the Old Summer Palace, with forty scenes referring to forty distinct garden groups within the palace. Each scene was a "miniature garden" or a cluster of garden buildings. The Forty Scenes were painted over eleven years under the order of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty by the most renowned court painters of the time, such as Tang Dai, Shen Yuan, and Leng Mei, demonstrating the difficulty of its creation. After completion, the scenes were inscribed with poems by Emperor Qianlong himself, written by Wang Youduan, the Minister of Works. The paintings are exquisitely crafted with outstanding visual effects, depicting buildings, springs, rocks, and other landscapes in a realistic style. The poems are profound in meaning, and the calligraphy is elegant and flowing, achieving a perfect harmony of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. This is the highest achievement in Chinese meticulous brush-and-ink painting and a rare gem in the garden of Chinese art. However, tragically, this set of "Forty Scenes" color prints suffered great humiliation. In 1860, when the Old Summer Palace was destroyed, these precious color illustrations were looted by invaders and "presented" to Emperor Napoleon III of France. Thus, both the Old Summer Palace and its images were "taken away" by Western invaders, leaving a long period where the image of the Old Summer Palace was completely blank in the minds of the Chinese people. People could only "imagine pavilions and halls from the ruins, ponds from the reeds, and flowers and trees from the thorns" (as described by Tan Yankai in the late Qing Dynasty). The "Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" treasured scroll we see today is the first time China has issued a silk-printed scroll of the "Forty Scenes." The scroll is approximately 28 meters long and 38 centimeters wide, making it the longest silk-colored meticulous brush-and-ink painting in the world and currently applying for a Guinness World Record. The scroll is packaged in a red lacquered peace drum, symbolizing peace and prosperity. It is supervised by the National Museum of China and the China Collectors Association, with a limited edition of 2004 copies and a domestic limited edition of 800 scrolls, each with a unique numbered edition. Due to its profound historical, cultural, and artistic value, it holds significant collectible value.