A Study On The Interior Decorations Of The Bower Of The Three Friends In The Garden Of The Palace Of Tranquil Longevity

Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty regarded the pine, the bamboo and the plum trees as three types of people representing integrity, knowledgeability and credibility. Being friends with them can help improve one’s virtue. In the twelfth year of the Qianlong reign (1747), the Qianlong Emperor stored three paintings, namely, Cao Zhibai’s Eighteen Pines, Bamboo Forest and Scroll of Plum Trees by artists of the Yuan dynasty, in the southern chamber of the Hall of Concentrating Brilliance in the Garden of the Palace of Established Happiness, and renamed it the Bower of the Three Friends. In the thirty-fifth year of the Qianlong reign (1770), when the Tripataka Hall in the Garden of Eternal Spring was renovated, another Bower of the Three Friends was built as the west chamber near the Chunhua Pavilion. In the thirty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign (1774), the Bower of the Three Friends in the Garden of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity was constructed, which is the only one remaining today among the three bowers with the same name built by the Qianlong Emperor. It was a revised copy of the one near the Chunhua Pavilion.The internal space of the bower is simple, clean and diversified. There are various types of exquisite wooden decorations of fine craftsmanship. Seventeen tieluo (painted panels) of various sizes made during three periods, namely, the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns and the late Qing, are posted on the wall. All of them are works by court painters, except the ones by the Jiaqing Emperor. Wooden windows and partitions with carved patterns are decorated by alternating paintings and calligraphy works signed by officials. This simple, primitive and elegant arrangement creates a lively and interesting atmosphere. Among them, calligraphy works were written by officials of late Qing dynasty, while paintings were themed on plants with fine symbolic meanings such as pine, bamboo and plum and were works of court painters of late Qing. Most interior decorations in the Bower of the Three Friends in the Garden of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity are about the Three Friends of the Winter and demonstrate the Qianlong Emperor’s high respect for the pine, bamboo and plum and his recognition with literati feelings.