This piece of Familie Rose cup from the late Qing period was a stark reminder of the importance of a strong nation, good government, and a military deterrence to match. Very apt for the times we are in.
Inscribed Famille-Rose Lotus-Form Cup, 34th Year of Guangxu (1908 ) Mark 粉彩荷花式秋操紀念盃 《大清光緒三十四年安徽太湖附近秋操紀念杯》款
Porcelain | 34th year of the Guangxu reign (1908) | L: 19 cm, W: 13 cm, H: 5 cm | Collection of Tianjin Museum. 瓷器｜清光緒三十四年（1908年） ｜长19厘米，宽13厘米，高5厘米｜天津博物馆藏
The entire design of this drinking cup is ingenious and unique. This cup features a pink lotus flower shaped like a boat, with veins outlined on all the petals. A hole at the bottom allows the drink to be sipped from the slender that serves as a straw.
The stem is painted a light green and decorated with thorns. The back of the stem is inscribed in ink: “Commemorative Cup for the Autumn Military Exercises Near Taihu Lake, Anhui Province, in the 34th Year of the Guangxu Reign of the Great Qing Dynasty.”
Not exactly a rare piece of work, the cup was discovered as part of the Palace Museum collection and there are many examples across different museums in China. Two were sent to Hunan Museum, two in Liaoning Provincial Museum and two in Tianjin Museum.
Autumn Military Exercises 秋操
The newly established army, the Self-Strengthening Army, and the Hubei Guard Army, among other modernised forces, underwent trial training and modernisation of their internal mechanisms. Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong began to introduce military confrontation exercises into the training practice of the new army. The widespread training of the new army in the late Qing Dynasty propelled the early modernization of the Chinese army in both breadth and depth. The Qing government, emulating Western and Japanese army military exercises, organized new army drills. The Beiyang Six Divisions and the new armies of Fengtian, Jiangsu, and other provinces successively conducted training or review drills, making it a high-level stage of new army military training. These drills, also known as “Autumn Drills,” or more formally “Autumn Military Drills,” were military exercises conducted by the Qing court to review the results of the new army’s formation and training. From the 31st year of the Guangxu Emperor’s reign (1905) to the 34th year (1908), the Qing court held three “Autumn Drills”: the first in 1905 in Hejian, Zhili (Hebei); the second in 1906 in Zhangde, Henan (“Zhangde Autumn Drills”); and the third in 1908 in Taihu, Anhui (“Taihu Autumn Drills”).1
The Taihu Autumn Drills became the catalyst for Xiong Chengji’s Anqing Uprising.2 This uprising shocked the Qing court, gained national fame, and made an indelible contribution to the history of the Xinhai Revolution. These military exercises trained the new army, spread revolutionary ideas, and prepared talent and military strength for the Xinhai Revolution. A number of advanced weapons were used for the first time in the Autumn Maneuvers, ensuring their permanent place in Chinese military history. This marked the transformation of Chinese military from traditional to modern, a major change in late Qing military affairs, and a microcosm of the broader global transformation. It reflected the late Qing government’s passive struggle to adapt to the world situation; however, its pursuit of world powers was too difficult and constrained, ultimately leading to its destruction and subjugation by the new social forces represented by the Xinhai Revolution.
This famille rose lotus-shaped cup in the museum’s collection, with its graceful form, bears witness to a tragic era of struggle, offering a glimpse into rise and fall through the lens of objects.3
Familie Rose 粉彩
Famille rose is a low-temperature overglaze porcelain ware created in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, a new variety derived from enamelware. The process involves first sketching the design with ink lines on high-fired white porcelain, then adding a layer of a white glaze that acts as both a flux and a white pigment. The coloured pigments are then mixed and applied to the white glaze before the piece is fired again.4
Jiaqing reign, Qing dynasty 清 嘉庆
Because of the soft and delicate texture of the objects depicted in famille rose, it is also known as “soft enamel.” During the Yongzheng period, the Jingdezhen imperial kilns produced a large quantity of famille rose ware, influencing even the private kilns. Imperial famille rose pieces often featured a white glaze as the base, with a thin, translucent body and exquisitely detailed decorations. Qianlong famille rose changed the previous rendering techniques, with flowers often featuring outlined stems, resulting in a more elaborate style.5
Daoguang reign, Qing dynasty 清道光
I have broken my usual blogging patterns by including this cup because of interesting times in the world right now. We are witnessing so-called “superpower nations” interfering with domestic affairs of other countries, be it for a righteous purpose (“liberation of oppressive dictators”, “democratisation”, etc) or otherwise. This piece of artefact from 120 years ago reminds us that with every foreign “intervention”, the purpose is never for the recipient nation’s own good. These foreign interventions resulted in almost a hundred years of turmoil in China. Lest we forget!
All photos taken at Tianjin Museum Oct 2025 and Liaoning Museum Sep 2025, unless otherwise noted.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- 新建陆军、自强军及湖北护军等新式军队试练成军，内部机制现代化，袁世凯、张之洞开始将军事对抗演习引入新军军事训练实践过程。清末新式陆军普练，从广度和深度上推动中国陆军早期现代化进程。清政府效仿西方、日本陆军军事演戏筹办新军会操，北洋六镇及奉天、江苏等省新军陆续开展训练性会操或校阅性会操，使之成为新军军事训练的高级阶段。会操亦称为“秋操”，全称为“秋季军事操练”，是清廷检阅新军编练结果的军事演习。从光绪三十一年（1905年）到光绪三十四年（1908年），清廷共举行过三次“秋操”：第一次于光绪三十一年（1905年）在直隶（河北）河间举行；第二次于光绪三十二年在河南漳德“彰德秋操”；第三次于光绪三十四年在安徽“太湖秋操”。https://www.chnmus.net/ch/collection/appraise/details.html?id=512151919874416878 ↩︎
- 熊成基（1887年—1910年2月27日），有些书作“熊承基”，字味根，男，江苏江都人，寄居安徽芜湖。清末革命将领。
祖父熊瑞生曾任安徽繁昌县知县。熊成基早年进入安徽练军武备学堂，后进入南洋炮兵学堂，之后派充为陆军第九镇第九标炮兵排长，后调任安徽马营队官、炮营队官。光绪三十四年，因各省军队到太湖（安徽省太湖县）秋操，加上光绪帝、慈禧太后相继病亡，遂于26日晚在安庆发动兵变，准备率众入城，但城内内应者未动，时任安徽巡抚朱家宝命令关城坚守，熊于是占领临江寺高处，用大炮射击，但不能得手。之后清军集结，次日遂向庐州一带逃散[1]。之后抵达芜湖，改装僧侣进入河南，后传向山东、大连，直至日本东京。宣统元年二月，回国改名张建勋。因将日本军事计划卖给沙俄，得到经费抵达东三省，但因臧冠三泄露而被逮捕[2]。不久在吉林巴尔虎门被杀害，临死前写数千言书，署名“革命”[3]。
民国17年（1928年）5月28日，国民政府令依陆军上将例追恤，以示优异而慰英灵[4]。
现有熊成基安庆起义会议旧址（安徽省文物保护单位）和熊成基墓（扬州市文物保护单位）。https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/熊成基, accessed 9 Mar 2026 ↩︎ - 太湖秋操成为熊成基安庆起义的导火索。这次起义震撼了清廷，闻名于全国，在辛亥革命史上具有不可磨灭的功勋。太湖秋操训练了新军，传播了革命思想，为辛亥革命准备了人才和武力。一批先进武器在秋操中首次使用，使太湖秋操永载于中国军事史。这是中国近代以来，军事由传统向现代的转变，是晚清军事的大变革，是出于世界变革大背景下的一个缩影。是晚清政府在被动的适应世界局势下的努力挣扎，然而，其追逐世界列强的脚步过于艰难局促，终于被辛亥革命为代表的新的社会力量摧毁、吞没。而院藏这只粉彩荷花吸杯以其柔美的姿态见证了一个挣扎的悲剧的时代，以物为证，可以见兴衰。https://www.chnmus.net/ch/collection/appraise/details.html?id=512151919874416878 ↩︎
- 粉彩是清代康熙末期创烧的低温釉上彩瓷器，是由珐琅彩衍生而成的一个新品种。其工序是先在高温烧成的白瓷上用墨线起稿，在图内添上一层可作熔剂亦可做白彩的玻璃白，再将所用彩料调匀，于玻璃白上进行描绘，最后人彩炉烘烧而成。 ↩︎
- 因以粉彩所表现的物像柔和粉润，粉彩又有“软彩”之称。雍正时期，景德镇御窑厂大量烧制粉彩器，井影响到民窑，官窑粉彩多以白釉为地，胎体轻薄剔透，纹饰精炒人微。乾隆粉彩改变了以往渲染手法，花朵大多勾茎，风格趋向繁缛。 ↩︎
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