"Forty Scenes of the Old Summer Palace" is the Qing Dynasty court painter Shen Yuan, Tang Dai according to the famous scenery of the Old Summer Palace painted on silk color forty scenes, by Wang by the Dunhuang Kaishu Qianlong Emperor made forty scenes inscription, concentrated reproduction of the old glory of the Old Summer Palace, is the most intuitive and most vivid cultural relics for people to understand and understand the original style of the Old Summer Palace, and is also called "the most authoritative and comprehensive display of the landscape of the Old Summer Palace so far".
According to the will of Emperor Qianlong, this map was drawn in the ninth year of Qianlong (1744). Painted by the court painters Tang Dai, Shen Yuan and others, Wang Youdun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, wrote the inscription of forty scenes made by Emperor Qianlong. The purpose is to record and display the style of the 40 famous scenery groups in the Old Summer Palace.
Painted on silk, the painting is exquisite, and the intuitive effect is excellent. The painted buildings, springs and other landscapes are all in a realistic style, but the background mountains are freehand.
The whole picture is divided into two volumes, each with a silk heart of 64×65 cm and a continuous pond edge of 83×75 cm. Each picture is equipped with the "Forty Scene Poems" of the Qianlong Emperor written by Wang Youdun, the great calligrapher of the Ministry of Industry at the time, together with the "Forty Scenes", a total of 40 pairs, each pair of poems on the left and right.
As an important historical document that records the heyday of the Old Summer Palace, it has extremely high historical, cultural and artistic value.
In 1860, when the British and French forces burned the Old Summer Palace, this precious set of painted paintings was looted by the invaders and dedicated to the Emperor Napoleon III of France. Currently, the figure is in the collection of the National Library of France.
"Forty Views of the Old Summer Palace" is not only a treasure of ancient Chinese painting art, but also an important historical document to record the style of the Old Summer Palace in its heyday. By appreciating these partial landscapes, we can feel the splendor and beauty of the Old Summer Palace in those years, and at the same time, we should also bear in mind the lessons of history and cherish and protect cultural heritage.
