The Qianlong emperor advocated that mountains and carved panels should carry the spirit of paintings by famous past masters. It is recorded that a number of classical paintings from the emperor's own collection was ordered to be reproduced in jade such as the well-known painting entitled Travelers in the Mountain, by the painter Guan Tong of the Five Dynasties (907-960 AD). In one of the emperor's poems, as discussed in an essay by Yang Boda (Arts of Asia, 'Jade: Emperor Ch'ien Lung's Collection in the Palace Museum, Peking', March-April 1992), the emperor noted in reference to a jade panel: 'This piece of precious jadeite is from Burma. It is too valuable for making display objects. In order to fully express its beauty, it is carved into a pendant with the scene of "the Spring beyond this world ". Imagination is exerted to turn the natural undulation or ruggedness into an appropriate landscape... It takes ten days to carve a tiny bit of water and five days to shape a piece of rock. The crafting is indeed very time-consuming. 

Poly Auction. Magnificent Jewels, 2 October 2017 1:30pm, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong