Character paintings from palace drama

Author: Huang Ke, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The characters from the Palace Theater paintings were once scattered in the world. In the 1990s, the National Library collected over 90 such paintings and published them as a collection, with a preface by Mr. Zhu Jiayin. Today, the collection "Qing Palace Theater Character Paintings" (published by Huashan Literature and Art Press in "colorful facsimile") includes over 200 paintings, surpassing half of the original total held by the Palace Museum, marking a significant new discovery in the realm of imperial theater paintings. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the highest rulers, for political, cultural, and personal reasons, showed great interest in opera: on one hand, to satisfy their own entertainment, and on other hand, to use it to educate their subjects and ensure the stability of their reign. The Qing Dynasty was no exception, with the difference being that it had specialized theater troupes within the palace and widely recruited folk opera companies to perform there. In the early years of Emperor Qianlong, theater performances were held during festivals such as the New Year, Emperor's Birthday, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice, as well as on joyous occasions like the enfeoffment of empresses and concubines or the birth of imperial princes. This foundation led to the creation of a large number of theater-themed paintings both inside and outside the palace. Among these theater character paintings, many were portrait-like, depicting famous actors in scenes from specific plays. Many renowned painters created highly realistic depictions of opera scenes, accurately portraying the facial expressions, attire, headwear, makeup styles, colors, and patterns of each character. For example: Jiang Ziya from "River of Wei Water," Zhuge Liang from "Battle of Dingjun Mountain," Li Yuan from "Accounting for Merits," and Wu Zixu from "Siege of Fancheng." These theater character paintings were originally stored in the Qing imperial palace and were commissioned by the Imperial Household Department's "Crafts Bureau" based on scripts, specifically for the emperors and empresses, particularly Empress Dowager Cixi, as "eye-satisfying imperial treasures" to "please their eyes," primarily featuring "luan tan" (a type of folk opera). Most of them later scattered into the hands of the public, and this book collects over 200 such paintings that have found their way into the, nearly encompassing all the theater paintings that were once in the palace but are now in private hands. It is currently the most extensive collection of its kind, making it exceptionally valuable and unique. Moreover, the authors of this book do not merely compile these exquisite and meticulous theater character paintings into a collection; they also conduct in-depth research and interpretation, incorporating their own insights and perspectives. For instance, based on the common phrase "all costumes and makeup should follow this example" often found on the paintings, it was previously thought that they were for actors' costumes and should be classified as part of the "Shengping Xu" collection. However, as the paintings were stored in Cining Palace, they are more likely to have been "imperial treasures" of Empress Dowager Cixi. According to documents such as "Costume Outline," the author meticulously notes the costumes, attire, and clothing of the characters in the paintings, as well as their roles in the stories, providing detailed annotations that greatly enrich the book's knowledge content. Additionally, the collected theater paintings are predominantly based on "luan tan" plays, showing that after the Daoguang era, "luan tan" had replaced Kunqu and Yiqu as the dominant form of opera. Through research, it has been confirmed that this monumental project was led by the painter Shen Zhenlin and carried out collectively by painters outside the "Imperial Academy." All of this provides valuable references for the cultural institutions of the late Qing Dynasty. These factors make this book highly valuable in terms of appreciation, collection, artistry, literature, and historical research.