A VERY RARE PAINTING DEPICTING THE BATTLE SCENE IN THE YANG'ARBATE UPRISING IN SOUTHERN XINJIANG China, Daoguang period, ca. 1828/ 29 124 x 36 cm (138 x 50 cm mit Rahmen) Ink and colours on silk. Very fine brushstrokes and flowing brushwork with detailed depictions of the multi-figure battle scene in a mountain landscape showing the success of the state armies. The names of the important army leaders of the state armies in this painting were written on their backs. Depicted are: Yang Yuchun (1760-1837, governor of Shanxi and Gansu Provinces, one of the 280 state heroes with honorary portrait in Ziguangge Imperial Hall, Guo Jichang (1788-1841, another of the 280 state heroes with honorary portrait in Ziguangge Imperial Hall, Shouchang (?-1840, from Guwalgiya clan), Baqingde (ca.1789-1851, from the Erzate clan), Lü Tianfeng (mainly active in the 1st half of the 19th century), Shuolongwu (?-1830), (Ale) Hanbao (?-1834, from the Niohuru clan), Bahabu (?-1837, from the Wumite clan)and (Er) Gulun (1768- after 1733). Important German aristocratic private collection, assembled in China prior to 1904 and owned by the family since then In 1826, Jahanghir Khoja (1790-1827) originating from the Afaqi Khoja clan in Kashgar in Xinjiang sparked a rebellion in Kashgar that quickly spread to Yarkand, Khotan and Yangihissar in southern Xinjiang. Through three decisive battles in 1827, Jahanghir's forces were defeated by the state armies. Jahanghir was captured in Kashgar in early 1828 and executed in Beijing in the same year. The present battle painting vividly depicts one of the three battles against troops of Jahanghir in Yang'Arbate (east of present Jiashi County in Xinjiang). Paintings with depictions of war scenes in a mountainous landscape like this one, with the imperial successful battle was called desheng tu (picture about military success) in Chinese by Emperor Qianlong, these were always painted in the court by imperial order. Just as active as his grandfather, Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Daoguang was in publicizing his military successes as the glory of his reign and, like Qianlong, he ordered copperplate engravings of the battle paintings. Since the cost of the French copper engravings recommended to Qianlong by the Jesuits was too high under Emperor Qianlong, the later versions of the copper engravings of the battle images were produced in the imperial workshops zaobanchu in court in Beijing. As a model for the copper engravings, Emperor first had his court painters (and also together with Jesuits in Qianlong period) paint the large-scale images on silk ground illustrating his successful military campaigns against unrest in Xinjiang, as in this detail of a larger painting. Only after the final drafts and several corrections by the emperor were these then established by his order and the final paintings were created. Most of the copper engravings and their painted models of the battle scenes were kept in the palace and most of them are now lost. It is also worth mentioning that the battle images of desheng tu not only served as templates of copper engravings and were painted in certain sizes, but were also made as large decorated paintings for walls or screens in the interior of the imperial palace. Compared with the size and depiction of a copperplate engraving dated 1829 of the Battle of Yang'Arbate from the imperial collection in the Qing period and now in the collection of the Taipei Palace Museum, the painting here may well be a detail of a larger composition of a large mural painting in the Forbidden City Palace. Literature: Qingshigao (History of Qing), vol. 368. Nie Chongzheng (es.), qingdai gongting huihua (Painting in the Imperial Court in the Qing Period), Hong Kong, 1996. Mounted, framed under glass, minor rest.