A rice paddy and a silkworm tray, painted with the care usually reserved for emperors, because the Yongzheng emperor asked for exactly that.
The Gengzhi tu is an old format, pictures of farming and weaving, here reworked in the Yongzheng court with the ruler himself sometimes inserted into the labourer’s place. It is propaganda with a soft brush, arguing that the state rests on work the viewer can name.
The Palace Museum in Beijing keeps the album. Few objects state the Confucian contract between throne and field more gracefully than this one.
Object details
| Name | Yongzheng Agricultural and Sericultural Pictures (雍正耕织图) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | — |
| Technique | Ink and colour on silk, album |
| Period | Qing dynasty, Yongzheng reign (18th c.) |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | 北京故宫博物院 |
Image © The Palace Museum, Beijing. See the original in the museum collection.