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Making Preparations to Travel

Though the lists of items that accompanied the Qianlong emperor on his inspection tours have probably long been lost, we can still get an idea of the artworks he appreciated during his travels from the inscriptions he wrote for them, some of which are recorded in Collected Anthology of Imperial Poetry by the Qing Emperor Gaozong and Grand Occasion of the Southern Tours. Together, they provide a view of the painting and calligraphy that he took on his southern tours more than two hundred years ago. The selection of these artworks was closely related to the scenery and stories about famous sites along the way. Many pieces of documentary evidence about the tours also still survive, such as "Illustrated Itinerary of the Southern Tours," which is similar to a travel guide that people make today. Before departing on each of his six tours, the Qianlong emperor became filled with anticipation, which he could hardly contain in the inscriptions that he wrote.

The Ten Views of West Lake

  1. Dong Bangda (1699-1769), Qing dynasty
  2. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper, 41.6 x 361.8 cm

This work presented to the Qianlong emperor is an example of how officials would offer various forms of travel information on the Jiangnan area in the south before the emperor's inspection tours. Qianlong's impression of and knowledge about this area had been built entirely upon the contents of books he had read and the accounts of others. This painting by Dong Bangda, although entitled "The Ten Views," actually includes 54 labeled sites, more than five times the number for which West Lake was famous. Therefore, the painting probably served more as a travel guide.

The inscription by Qianlong written in 1750, a year before his first southern inspection tour, shows that this painting proved successful in piquing his interest in traveling there. The contents mention how he had long heard about the beauty of West Lake and that he would be traveling to sites in the painting to see them for himself the following spring, revealing in the process his growing anticipation of visiting the area.

The Ten Views of West Lake