Prosperity of Suzhou，a Qing Dynasty（1644.1911） hand scroll by Xu Yang ， ink and color on paper， 37cm×1241cm， in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum， Shenyang.
Xu Yang， a court painter in the Qing Dynasty， was proficient at drawing characters， pavilions， flowers and birds. In 1751， the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign， Emperor Qianlong arrived in Suzhou for his inspection tour. Xu Yang won the emperor’s favor by presenting his paintings and was accordingly appointed court painter. His works include Prosperity of Suzhou and Emperor Qianlong’s Southern Inspection Tour. This long scroll describes the prosperous scenes in Gusu（now Suzhou）。 Ingeniously conceived， it has imposing grandeur， standing focal point and fine brushwork. This realistic masterpiece was taken out of the Palace Museum by Pu Yi， the dethroned emperor of the Qing Dynasty， and got lost in northeast China. It is a first-level cultural relic under the state protection enjoying equal value for research withPeace Reigns over River.