Jade+Kuei+Scepter




 * Title:** Jade Kuei Scepter


 * Artist:** Unknown


 * Date:** 1736-1795


 * Period:** Qing Dynasty


 * Country of origin:** China


 * Culture/Enthic Affiliation:** Qing Dynasty


 * Medium:** Jade Scepter


 * Dimensions:** w:7.00 l:22.10 cm **(**w: 2 3/4 1:8 11/16 in)


 * Museum/Collection:** Chinese Art


 * Accession Number:** 1952.476


 * Current location & Manner of Display:** Cleveland Museum of art/ online Chinese art collection


 * Provenance:** Unknown

This artifact is a Chinese scepter, which was created by an unknown artist, features an inscription of an essay written by Emperor Qianlong (r. _) during the peak of the last Qing dynasty. Most of the scepters used during the Qing Dynasty were //ruy//i scepters, which are in the form a a curved staff with a mushroom shaped head on the top. //Ruyi//scepters were used in ceremonies to show good fortune and power in status to whoever was holding it. However this scepter is based on a different form and was carved from a jade material that was extremely valued by Emperor Qianlong. On the back side of the scepter is an inscription which is titled “On the seal of the old man of the ten accomplishments.” This inscription on the back of the scepter is an essay from Emperor Qianlong, describing some of his accomplishments as a great ruler during the Qing dynasty. This scepter would have been used to show ones position in office, as a funerary item placed in the tomb with the deceased official, or as an archaist item to look back on past events. Do to the details and events in the inscription on the back this object was created towards the end of Emperor Qianlong’s reign between 1736 and 1795.
 * Introduction:**

This scepter which was created by an unknown artist during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The scepter is carved from a single piece of jade, which is semi translucent and covered in a white glaze that makes the scepter look like a large crystal. The base of the scepter has a rectangular shape with the top coming to a point, which makes the scepter look like a axe or a dagger. The front of the scepter is in a sloping rectangle shape which consists of 90 small raised dots that come to a point at the top. The dots and the indents between the dots make the item appear three dimensional with the middle sticking out the furthest, as the sides are slanted and angled slightly back. On the back side of the scepter, Qianlong ordered another servant/assistant to carve one of his essays into the jade surface. The essay was interpreted by some experts as being titled "On the Seal of the Old Man of the Ten Accomplishments.” The inscription on the back lists some of Emperor Qianlong’s achievements like his military victories in Taiwan, Jungar, Jinchuan, Myanmar, Annan, and also against a few other native tribes and rebellions.
 * Descriptive Analysis:**

This scepter must be discussed in the context of the Qianlong emperor and the way he employed such objects as symbols. Emperor Qianlong was the fourth Qing (Ch’ing) emperor after the Manchurians took control of China and created a multicultural empire of over 250 million people. He was one of the few emperors who were lucky enough to enjoy a long reign of 60 years before retiring and living out the rest of his life until he passed away at the age of 89. Qianlong was an ideal Confucian ruler during the height of the last dynasty or as some historians would call it the golden age or the last great flowering of the imperial culture. (//Ho and Bennet 2004, 22-27//) Qianlong was a child protege who believed in traditional Chinese culture and was chosen to succeed the throne at the age of 25. Due to his great victories and achievements, Qianlong had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling, which allowed him to become very educated on the surrounding cultures in his empire. During his 150 imperial tours Qianlong became one of the great poets, writers and calligraphers of his time and others to pass. He had several collections of books which included his own essays and poems along with writings from other court scholars. During his reign, Qianlong achieved many different tasks, not only military victories or political advances, but he created a long reign of peace and harmony throughout his large empire in this feudalism society. He was able to achieve this by using his political power and educated mind to connect the different cultures. He was very adamant about people making a living for themselves and their families so he encouraged farming and hunting so that people could provide for themselves and also improve society. He allowed exemptions from land taxes at least 5 times during his reign in order to further improve social production.(//Ho and Bennet 2004, 12-15, 91-100//) Qianlong was a very successful and achieved man which made him very self confident and proud, so in a majority of his poetry and writings he either relates to or relives those moments of achievement in different forms of artistic expressions.
 * Formal & Contextual Analysis:**

On the back of the Scepter emperor Qianlong had another person inscribe his essay which he titled “"On the Seal of the Old Man of the Ten Accomplishments”. The self confident emperor was very proud of his many accomplishments so he would have many of those accomplishments carved into jade or stone items in four different languages. These languages included Manchurian, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan based on the large variety of people living within his empire. The emperor was very outspoken when talking about achieving “The Ten Kinds of Martial arts” so he was known to refer to himself as the “Old Man with 10 Accomplishments”.(//Guo 2012//) The inscription on the back of the scepter has been interpreted to tell the stories of his 10 great victories or his 10 kinds of martial arts which helped Qianlong grow his empire. These victories included 2 fights in Jungar, 2 battles in Jinchuan, a war in Myanmar, Annan and Tiawan, a victory over a rebel Hui Tribe, and two final victories in what is now considered Nepal.(Pelissier 2013) Other interpretations of Qianlong’s essay and other essays very similar to this one included “Old Man with ten complete victories” or “On the Seal of a Completely Fulfilled Old Man”. Some scholars also believe that the inscription talks about his political and moral victories as the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty which help him achieve complete fulfillment. Qianlong believed that there was much more to being a great emperor than wars and politics. According to the emperor there is a strong connection between being completely fulfilled and his ultimate status as a great ruler. So he used items like the Qing Code, which was a book of rules and ethics for society to follow to achieve true perfection.(//Qin and Zhou 1995, 310-319//) Qianlong was a man who examined his character along side with his achievements. He believed that there are certain rules to becoming a completely fulfilled ruler like not engaging in meaningless wars and not increasing land taxes if it is not necessary. Due to his Tibetan Buddhism beliefs he was a strong advocate in the idea that Heavens aid has a role in every obstacle one must encounter. So in order to become completely fulfilled he must wait to receive heavens gifts or acceptance otherwise he would fall short of his main goal of complete fulfillment.(//Guo 2012//)

The scepter is made from a material called Jade which was very valuable throughout Chinese history and to Emperor Qianlong. Jade objects were used in many different was throughout Chinese history and was the second most sought after material after the bronze age. Jade was used for almost everything like protection from evil spirits to symbols of power and status. Jade items during this time period became very popular according to modern scholars, because of the rapid changes and new designs that were being carved from this material. There was even high activity in Jade trade, as craftsmen were competing to create the best designs to present to the imperial court. Most of these jade items came in forms of pottery like plates, wine vessels, and bowls. Emperor Qianlong was known to have his achievements carved into these jade items as a resemblance of his own status as ruler. In early Chinese history, people of high status would hold these items at there chest during ritual ceremonies to signify there ultimate status among the rest of the group. On these tablets they would carve achievements like war victories, moral victories, or just interesting stories that describe their character as an accomplished person. A majority of the time these high ranking officials would be buried with the tablet so that they could be identified in the spirit world. During the Qing dynasty jade items like this one became used for archaism as a way to look back on the past and how things were or should be. Due to this change in use and the economic expansion during the Qing dynasty these jade items became a cherished possessions and the Jade scepters became less likely to appear in ritual ceremonies.(British Museum 2002) . While doing the research on this item I have realized that the title the Cleveland Museum uses for this item can be very confusing for a few reasons. The first reason is the definition of the word “Kuei” which can be translated to mean a few different things depending on the context and the tone that is being used. The word for ghost is (gui) but is written (鬼 ) and the word for scepter is also called (gui) but is written completely different (珪 ). So this makes it very hard to tell the difference without hearing the word or seeing the symbol. The second part of the title that is misleading is the word scepter because the scepters during the Qing Dynasty were not usually shaped like this one instead they have a skinny base and a mushroom top with no space for inscriptions on them. With all this said the title of this item should have been called a “Jade tablet” based on the shape and uses that resemble the ancient tablets made from stone. Overall I found this Item to be very interesting especially the inscription on the back that tells the achievements of the great Emperor Qianlong. I could not find anything on the 90 dots on the front surface of this item so if anyone has any knowledge on those feel free to comment.
 * Personal Interpretation:**

"Archaistic jade gui (ritual sceptre)." britishmuseum. 
 * References:**

Fuxiang, Guo. "An Imperial Celadon And Brown Jade 'Tian'en Shiquan' Oval Seal. Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period - A.lain R. T.ruong." A.lain R. T.ruong. 6 october, 2012 

Ho, Chuimei, and Bennet Bronson. //Splendors of China's Forbidden City: the glorious reign of Emperor Qianlong//. London: Merrell ;, 2004.

Pelissier, Roger. "Qianlong (emperor of Qing dynasty) -- Encyclopedia Britannica." Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Qin, Zheng, and Guangyuan Zhou. "Pursuing Perfection: Formation of the Qing Code." //Modern China// 21, no. 3 (1995): 310-344.

"Scepter: Kuei | Cleveland Museum of Art." Cleveland Museum of Art.  . Waley-Cohen, Joanna. "Commemorating War in Eighteenth-Century China." //Modern Asian Studies// 30, no. 4 (1996): 869-899.

Wells, Raymond J G. "The Power of Jade | the-vu." the-vu | 