Seal of the Great Qing Receiving the Mandate - View 1

This white jade seal features a knob of a crouching dragon. The square base has a bilingual inscription in Manchu and seal-script Chinese. This seal was considered of prime importance in a collection of twenty-five seals that the Qianlong Emperor personally listed as cherished accoutrements. According to The Catalogue of Seals of the Hall of Union (Jiaotai dian baopu), this seal expresses the Qing dynasty's claim to the Mandate of Heaven (Tianming) and thus their legitimacy to rule over China. The Qianlong Emperor wrote an inscription for the catalogue and noted that this seal had been preserved since the time of Taizong (Hong Taiji). In the thirteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1748), the emperor ordered for seals with Manchu inscriptions to be re-engraved with the Manchu seal-script, but this seal remained untouched due to its origin with the imperial ancestor. The jade is pure white and seems to possess a warm moistness. The crouching-dragon knob is simple with a smooth design. Fashioned with superb artistry, the work reveals the proficiency of jade carvers at the inception of Qing dominion.

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