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Sukhāvatī (The Pure Lands)

2022-11-11

The court used a sketch from the Qing dynasty court painter Ding Guanpeng depicting the heavenly paradise of Buddhism. The tapestry brocade is so complicated in craftsmanship and is so large that it requires at least three or four labors simultaneously to lift it. The details are outlined with filaments of more than twenty kinds of silk thread and round gold threads that simulated the texture skills of paintings. The design has numerous buildings, such as pavilions, terraces, towers, belvederes and palaces, and 278 Buddhist figures including Amitabha Buddha, with ornamentation of flowing clouds, trees, flowers and plants. The brocade is characterized by vivid facial expressions and graceful dresses. The smooth outlines are elaborately executed as if they were painted, which represents the original artistic style and the superb technology of Suzhou polychrome weaving in the early Qianlong period.

The brocade was preserved in the Hall of Mental Cultivation and Palace of Heavenly Purity. It is affixed with seals, reading “Imperial collection of the Qianlong Emperor”, “Appreciated by the Qianlong Emperor”, “Imperial Study Collection”, “Preserve for Posterity”. It is significant for historical research on Qing dynasty polychrome weaving in Buddhist art.

en.dpm.org.cn


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