A BLUE AND WHITE ‘YELLOW EMPEROR AND BAI ZE’ PORCELAIN VASE, QING DYNASTY

The sturdily potted vessel with delicate painting in cobalt blue under the glaze
China, 19th century, Qianlong seal mark painted in underglaze blue on the base


Expressive yet detailed depiction of the Yellow Emperor Huangdi who has just met the talking beast Bai Ze that taught him the knowledge of all supernatural creatures. He is accompanied by two Daoist scholars who are resting under a gnarly wutong tree springing from a craggy rock. Several bats are flying above.
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow God, or simply by his Chinese name Huangdi, is a deity in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and cosmological Five Forms of the Highest Deity. First calculated by Jesuit missionaries on the basis of Chinese chronicles and later accepted by the twentieth-century promoters of a universal calendar starting with the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi's traditional reign dates are 2697–2597 or 2698–2598 BC. Huangdi's cult became prominent in the late Warring States and early Han period, when he was portrayed as the originator of the centralized state, as a cosmic ruler, and as a patron of esoteric arts. A large number of texts – such as the Huangdi Neijing, a medical classic, and the Huangdi Sijing, a group of political treatises – were thus attributed to him. Having waned in influence during most of the imperial period, in the early twentieth century Huangdi became a rallying figure for Han Chinese attempts to overthrow the rule of the Qing dynasty, which they considered foreign because its emperors were Manchus. To this day the Yellow Emperor remains a powerful nationalist symbol. Traditionally credited with numerous inventions and innovations – ranging from the calendar to an ancestor of football – the Yellow Emperor is now regarded as the initiator of Chinese civilization and said to be the ancestor of all Chinese.
The talking beast Bai Ze was encountered by the Yellow Emperor while he was on patrol in the east and visited the mythical East sea. During this encounter, the creature dictated to Huangdi a guide to the forms and habits of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and how to overcome each of their their hauntings and attacks. The emperor had this information written down in a book called the Bai Ze Tu. The book no longer exists, but many fragments of it survive in other ancient texts.

Shape: Baluster vase
Weight: 3.5 kilo
Dimensions: 38.6 cm.
Condition: Two small chips to rim, one with associated hairline of 2 cm. Some minor firing flaws. Otherwise excellent condition.
Provenance: American private collection.

清代青花”黃帝與白澤”瓷瓶
青花釉下彩，厚胎瓶
中國， 十九世紀，瓶底青花乾隆款
造型：瓶
重量：3.5 公斤
尺寸：38.6 厘米.
品相：邊沿兩條小開口，一條如髮絲長2厘米，一些製作缺陷，其他保存狀況極好
來源：美國私人收藏.