An extremely rare imperial and gilt-inscribed celadon jade ‘Xiangxuehai’ plaque, Yubi mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青白玉御筆填金《鄧尉香雪海歌疊舊作韻》玉版 《御筆》款 《乾隆御筆》、《乾隆宸翰》、《所寶惟賢》、《惟精惟一》印

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2009, lot 1714.

香港蘇富比2009年10月8日，編號1744

This jade plaque, inscribed with three poems by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95), serves as a rare and exquisite memento of the Emperor's repeated visits to a scenic spot he was particularly fond of, during his Southern Inspection Tours. All three poems are referencing the plum blossoms of Xiangxuehai in the Dengwei mountains, a renowned beauty spot southwest of Suzhou in southern China. Xiangxuehai, 'Sea of Fragrant Snow', is renowned to this day for its captivating plum-blossom scenery, which, at least since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), drew numerous literati that celebrated it in poems and paintings. Attracted by its fame, the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722), the Qianlong Emperor's grandfather, already visited the site three times during his Southern Inspection Tours, and he himself visited Xiangxuehai during each of his six Tours and composed thirteen poems about it. The three imperial poems inscribed on the plaque were created in the 22nd, 27th and 30th years of his reign (1757, 1762 and 1765), as documented in Yuzhishi erji (Anthology of poetry and prose by the Qianlong Emperor. Collection 2), juan 69-9, Yuzhishi sanji (op.cit., Collection 3), juan 20-21, and Yuzhishi sanji (ibid.), juan 47-15.

The Qianlong Emperor's visits were not solely a reflection of his deep respect for his grandfather, but also indicative of his personal love of the site's magnificent scenery. In order to view the blossoms at their peak, he even adjourned his itinerary during his first Inspection Tour in 1751. In 1756, a year before his second visit to the site (when he penned the first poem inscribed on this jade plaque), the Qianlong Emperor created a scroll painting of plum blossoms in snow. Xu Bangda, one of the court officials who subsequently inscribed this scroll, writes that it 'evokes memories of Xiangxuehai upon unrolling', as cited in Shiqu baoji sanbian, juan 27.

The site also features in the album Gusu Mingsheng (Famous Sites of Gusu), part of a painting series documenting renowned sites in the Jiangnan region visited by the Emperor, created by the eminent court artist Donggao (1740-1818), now in the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, illustrated in Shenyang Gugong Bowuyuan cang wenwu jingcui. Huihua. Xia (The prime cultural relics collected by Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum: Paintings. II), Shenyang, 2006, cat. no. 209, p. 99. It is also recorded that five steles inscribed with imperial poems were erected at Xiangxuehai, with one still standing to this day.

Imperial jade carvings are rarely associated with renowned sites the Qianlong Emperor visited during his Southern Tours and commemorated in poems; see, for example, a jade boulder carved with a scene recalling the site of Zhulu shanfang ('Bamboo Brazier Mountain Retreat') at Huishan temple in Wuxi, Jiangsu, with the imperial poem in running script, sold in our Paris rooms, 15th June 2023, lot 72; also two pieces carved with Qianchixue ('Thousand Feet of Snow'), a scenic location at Hanshan mountain near Suzhou, one in white jade, sold in our New York rooms, 29th September 1989, lot 474; the other in spinach-green jade, sold in these rooms, 25th April 2004, lot 95.

玉牌刻有乾隆御製詩三首，均以鄧尉山香雪海之梅花為題，以茲紀念。蘇州鄧尉山，四時花不謝，八節景常春，每至歲時，尤以香雪海梅花為最高。白雪皚皚，梅香暗動，故曰香雪海，無數文人墨客為其賦詩作畫，最早可追溯到明代（1368-1644）。康熙帝（1662-1722）循其遠名，南巡期間三次到訪，乾隆六下鄧尉探梅，並為此撰詩十三首。牌上三首詩創作於乾隆在位第22年、第27年及第30年（1757,1762及1765），載於《御製詩二集》卷69-9，《御製詩三集》卷20-21，以及《御製詩四集》卷47-15。

乾隆造訪香雪海不僅反映其以先帝為所瞻，更彰明其對該人間仙境之喜愛。1751年，乾隆不惜中斷首次南巡行程，只為一睹梅花盛放。1756年，即第二次巡視前一年，乾隆繪雪中梅花水墨紙本手卷一幅，其中一個為該手卷題字之要員徐邦達寫道：「展開如憶香雪海」。載於《石渠寶笈三編》，卷27。 

著名宮廷畫家董誥（1740-1818）創作工筆畫圖冊《姑蘇名勝》，以錄皇帝所遊之江南名勝，現藏於沈陽故宮博物院，見《沈陽故宮博物院藏文物精粹：繪畫卷下》，沈陽，2006，編號209，頁99。乾隆六訪香雪海，立詩碑五塊，其一至今仍屹立不倒。

御製玉雕與乾隆南巡時遊覽過的名勝景點有關，並賦詩紀念之，於歷史上並非鳳毛麟角，如江蘇無錫惠山寺一玉石便見竹爐山房的景致刻於其上，附行書御制詩，該玉石於2023年6月15日在巴黎蘇富比售出，拍賣品編號72；另有兩件雕有蘇州寒山勝景「千尺雪」的作品，一件為白玉，1989年9月29日售於紐約蘇富比，編號474；另一件為菠菜綠玉，2004年4月25日易手於紐約蘇富比，編號95。