Zeng Qi: Mingren ruiying tu (明人瑞應圖) (1414)
(Ming Dynasty Pictures of Auspicious Responses) (in Eight Sections)
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Zeng Qi (1372-1432), also known as Ziqi and Xishu, was born in Yongfeng (present-day Jiangxi). He was called the “Gifted Youth of Jiangxi”. He was proficient in cursive script, and inherited the style of the Jin Dynasty. He was a high Ming official in the imperial palace during the Yongle reign. Some of his poems have survived.
Taken from: Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400-1450 Edited by Craig Clunas
How the Giraffe Became a Qilin: Intercultural Signification in Ming Dynasty Arts by
Kathlyn Liscomb. Kathlyn Liscomb in Art History 2002
A 1414 poem accompanies the paintings in which;
Zeng Qi interprets the white elephant (gift from Anam (1)) and the qi-lin (2) as auspicious animals demonstrating the extensive reach of the Youngle (3) emperors human rule. Zeng claims that a qi-lin (2) did not appear since the western Han dynasty (4). Crowds of people thronging to witness the qilin that is shown in a complex twisted pose as it turns its neck to look backwards. Its hooves are firmly planted on the ground except for one foreleg which is raised gracefully. The three man are marked as foreigners by their attire, protruding noses, dark complexions and the dense beards of two of them. Modulated tone of beige with reddish tints enhance the illusion of solidity of the faces, contributing to the impression that the artist was a foreign as his subjects, since this was not common in contemporary chinese painting.
Under: Preface to the Scroll.
(In the preface of the scroll)
Since the beginning of the Yongle reign, my humble self has served as an official during this time. The white elephant came; the mystical tortoise appeared; the Yellow River turned clear; zouyu (vegetarian tiger) appeared twice, and qilin was offered twice, as well as other signs, such as the appearance of white deer, auspicious grain and sweet dew. All this I could personally witness, because painters were ordered to paint their image.
自永樂改元以來，忝官侍從其間。白象至，神龜見，黃河清，騶. 虞兩出，麒麟再獻。以至白鹿、嘉禾、甘露之瑞，皆得身親見之,
因命繪事者圖其形象。
According to Zeng’s preface, the painting was produced in the tenth month of 1414. There are five sections in the painting. From the right to left they depict a white elephant, the Yellow River with its muddy water turning clear, a qilin, a white deer and auspicious grains with more than one ear of grain on each stem. An ode is inscribed after each image.
-The white elephant depicted commemorates the tribute from Annam in 1404;
-The river scene records the Yellow River turning clear in the winter of 1404;
-The qilin documents the giraffe arriving from Bengal in 1414;
-The white deer relates to the command from the Yongle emperor in 1406 ordering officials to compose odes about the topic.
-And Shuntian (5) prefecture presented auspicious grain as tribute in 1409.
The white elephant depicted commemorates the tribute from Annam in 1404
The qilin documents the giraffe arriving from Bengal in 1414
The white deer relates to the command from the Yongle emperor in 1406 ordering officials to compose odes about the topic.
And Shuntian prefecture presented auspicious grain as tribute in 1409
Under the Ode written about the Qi-lin.
On the left side of the giraffe painting is the Giraffe-Ode:
The text starts with:
瑞應麒麟賦 : Rui ying qilin Ode:
永樂十二年九月丁丑榜葛剌國王表獻麒麟群臣交慶以為希世之大瑞莫不播之_頌以昭示方来臣除周麒麟歌西墅熊小臣_為歌詩一事以進其詞曰四靈之物_ _ _獨有上瑞為麒麟周南想象託歌詠千載
... Yongle twelve years in September took place; the king of Bang-ge-la-guo (6) offered a Kirin (giraffe), to the ministers for celebration. He thought that the great auspiciousness of the world would not be broadcast. ...….
(Kathlyn Liscomb gives the translations of a couple more extracts:)
…..It loftily raises its head towards the imperial throne. Its height is eighteen feet….
…. Heaven produces auspicious things, which naturally are unusual. Its forehead, a dragon; its neck, a phoenix; its body, a deer,
and on its back, tortoise shell patterns….
(1) Anam: Annam; Trung Kỳ (中圻), Central Vietnam.
(2) qi-lin: or Kirin; giraffe
(3) Youngle: The Yongle Emperor — personal name Zhu Di, or Chu Ti— was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
(4) western Han dynasty: the Western Han (202 BC–9 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD).
(5) Shuntian prefecture: equivalent to Beijing Municipality in today's China.
(6) Bang-ge-la-guo: Bengal; present-day Bangladesh.
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Zeng Qi: Ruiying tu (瑞應圖) (1414)
(Pictures of Auspicious Responses) (in Eight Sections)
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Taken from: https://sowas-group.com/auctions/item/39363?currency_unit=JPY
This is actually a copy from the above scroll in which the original eight pictures are still present.
Under one of the prefaces of the text. It is mostly the same as the one of the other copy.
聖朝瑞應圖序，惟古者，國家極盛之世，恩澤旁敷，德化周洽，則至和氣薰蒸，融結必發為禎祥之物，夫豈偶然而已哉。棨自永樂改元以來，忝官侍從其間，白象至，神龜見，黃河清，騶虞兩出，麒麟再獻，以至白鹿嘉禾甘露之瑞，皆得身親見之。既又得與文學之臣作為歌詩以稱頌，贊美者皆巳上徹。宸聰藏之天府矣，顧惟窮鄉下邑越絕萬里，聞其事者莫不延頸企慕，思欲一見，而有不可得者，則臣等於此豈非幸歟。上命繪事者圖其形象，敕令棨錄所進詩文以附於後，名曰瑞應圖，用彰文明之盛，嗟夫天地之大，日月之明，誠實非繪盡者所能得，亦非歌頌者所能悉，然考幽風之圖，有以見成周王業之興，觀王會之作，足以知有唐聲教之盛，則是圖也，誠可以著聖德感應之徵者矣，況蕪陋之辭，亦皆得與天球、赤刀並列於金匱石室之間。至於斯圖之有傳或遐邇之人得因今日之所作，而拜覩於此，恍然如在殿陛之間，輦轂之下，蓋歆希世之奇逢慶有生之至幸，豈徒一覩之為快哉，雖然殆未止此也，百世之後有欲求覩，我朝治化之隆者尚或徵於斯乎哉。永樂十二年歲在甲午冬十月朔旦，翰林院侍講臣 曾棨拜手稽首謹。
Zeng Qi: Since the beginning of the Yongle reign, my humble self has served as an official during this time. The white elephant came; the mystical tortoise appeared; the Yellow River turned clear; zouyu (vegetarian tiger) appeared twice, and qilin was offered twice, as well as other signs, such as the appearance of white deer, auspicious grain and sweet dew. All this I could personally witness, because painters were ordered to paint their image.
