The Viewing Stone Appreciation Taste of Emperor Qian Long

By/Ding Wenfu

Ning Shou Palace Garden is intended to be the place where the Emperor Qian Long can enjoy his pure happiness in the rest of the day. It was started repairing in the thirty-sixth year of Qianlong period,and completed in the forty-first year of Qian Long period. From the collapse of the Emperor Qian Long to the end of the Qing Dynasty, it undergo a long term vacancy. So, On the whole, the statement of the appreciation of the viewing stones in Royal Court of Ning Shou Palace can generally represents the stone appreciation taste of Emperor Qian Long.

Lingbi Stone and other various viewing stones are the main type of the viewing stones in the imperial garden of Ning Shou Palace.

Actually, Lingbi Stone that are collected in Forbidden City Garden is mainly concentrated in Ning Shou Palace Garden foe the reason that there are only a few Lingbi stones in the imperial garden and no Lingbi stone was found in Jianfu Palace Garden. Thus it can be seen that Emperor Qian Long had a special preference for Lingbi Stone. Besides, he preferred the natural images to all kinds of carved Lingbi stones.The preference that Emperor Qian Long had to the Lingbi stone in the garden is not only presented in the imperial court, but also in the folk court. All of these belonged to a very original tastes of his appreciation.