This is “Jasper Vat with Nine Dragons from the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty”. Vat was a kind of container for holding wine and water in ancient China. With a broad opening, the vat, made with jasper, has a large capacity. On its surface are engraved rolled cloud pattern and nine auspicious dragons, appearing magnificently embossed. Coiling around the vat, the auspicious dragons, with wide-open round eyes and stretching claws, appear vivid and lively. Supported by a wooden stand, the vat radiates unique antique aura. The bottom of the vat is seal carved with different kinds of marks and characters: at the centre is “Made in the Year of Qianlong”, while other inscriptions read “Treasure of the Great Qing Dynasty's Reception of the Mandate”, “Inscribed by Emperor Qianlong”, “Dragon Flies Thousands of Miles” etc. “Treasure of the Great Qing Dynasty's Reception of the Mandate” is one of the “Twenty-five Treasures of the Qing Dynasty”, referring to the official imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong, Qing Dynasty.

In addition to the marks, five pieces of the “Three Hundred Tang Poems” are also engraved in seal characters beneath the vat. The pieces are Li Bai's Bringing in the Wine, Bidding a Friend Farewell at Jingmen Ferry and A Song of Pure Happiness; Du Fu's From the Upper Story; and Zhang Jiuling's Looking at the Moon and Thinking of One Far Away; plus the renowned couplet written in the Fei Yun Ge in Kunming, Yunnan Province. The “Three Hundred Tang Poems” was compiled in the year of Qianlong Reign. The Tang Dynasty witnessed the peak in the development of Chinese poetry with many talented masters coming forth one after another and seizing the limelight. Growing up with the Chinese traditional education, Emperor Qianlong was versatile, showing his talent in literature, poems, songs, calligraphy and paintings, and in particular, he held great esteem in Tang poetry.