I. Teachers’ Guide

The Southern Inspection Tour Scrolls

Study Questions:

1. Discuss the relationship between the sets of scrolls we are drawing upon here and the inspection tours of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors.
   1. How many tours did each emperor make?
   2. How many of these tours were recorded in paintings?
2. How many sets of scrolls are there?
   1. How many scrolls are included in each set?
   2. How big are the scrolls?
   3. Is each scroll different from the one before it and after it?
3. Discuss how the scrolls were produced.
   1. Did the artist travel with the emperor?
   2. How did the artist conceive of the layout for the scrolls?
   3. How did he execute the scrolls?
4. Discuss the hand scroll format.
   1. What are its advantages?
   2. How might it have evolved?
   3. Why was this format favored in Chinese art?
5. What is the history of these sets of hand scrolls?
   1. Where were they housed during the imperial period?
   2. Were they viewed by many people? By ordinary people in China?
   3. When were the sets broken up?
   4. Do we know the location of all of the scrolls?
   5. How many are we using here and where are they located?