Taking the imperial city space as a clue: Interpreting the multiple meanings of court festival paintings in the Qianlong era

Reviewed by: A Court on Horseback: Imperial Touring and Construction of Qing Rule, 1680–1785 Mi-ryung Song (bio) Michael G. Chang . A Court on Horseback: Imperial Touring and Construction of Qing Rule, 1680–1785. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2007. xix, 550 pp. Hardcover $49.95, ISBN 0-674-02454-0. Michael Chang's A Court on Horseback: Imperial Touring and Construction of Qing Rule, 1680–1785 is a study of imperial touring during the eighteenth century. In particular, this book's focus is the Qianlong emperor's six southern tours between 1751 and 1784. The author's main argument is that southern tours played a critical role in political culture and in the formation of Qing rule during the eighteenth century. The author emphasizes that the Qianlong emperor's southern tours were an integral component of the court's responses to historical challenges such as military threats and floods as well as population growth and commercialization. This book analyzes the imperial tours in eight chapters. The author's exploration of the southern tours starts with their antecedents (chap. 1). According to Chang, by the early sixteenth century, the practice of imperial touring was closely associated with non-Han regimes such as the Khitan Liao, the Jurchen Jin, and the Mongol Yuan. The author emphasizes that the Qing Empire's imperial touring in the eighteenth century revealed its character as a non-Han regime. In chapter 2, Chang demonstrates that the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors practiced the imperial tour as an emblem of the Manchus' ancestral virtues in both the civil and the military fields. In this regard, the author focuses on the Inner Asian elements of the Qing in imperial touring. Chang explains that even though imperial tours referred to abstract and elastic concepts, such as filial piety, diligence, and benevolence, Qing imperial tours also were intended to enhance the political prestige of the conquest elite. It was necessary for the Qing court to express its assertion of multiethnic privilege in a way acceptable to Han scholar-officials. Chapters 3 and 4 portray the martial content of the Qianlong emperor's southern tours. The author points out that the detailed planning of the southern tours was undertaken by the Manchu and Mongol members of the conquest elite (chap. 3). The Qing court considered the management of imperial tours—including the southern tours—as a highly sensitive matter to be entrusted to banner men. For this reason, Han Chinese officials could not serve on the superintendency of the imperial encampment. Also, through explaining the structure of the imperial camp, Chang shows that it was another conspicuous emblem of the Qing court's claim to an Inner Asian heritage of martial mobility and prowess. [End Page 375] In addition, Chang examines how Qianlong used imperial tours to showcase the ruling house as a model of Manchu skill as well as to highlight banner men as members of an active and disciplined conquest elite (chap. 4). As evidenced by a number of court paintings that depict the Qianlong emperor entering local cities in the saddle, Chang emphasizes that the Qianlong emperor thought of riding horseback as a symbol of ethnic honor closely associated with Manchu martial preeminence. In addition, the author suggests that the Qianlong emperor considered the mastery of horsemanship and archery as a proof of an individual banner man's diligence and moral character. Chapters 5 and 6 explore the Qianlong emperor's efforts to encompass groups of Jiangnan Han Chinese elites. First, the author details the relationship between merchants and the Qianlong court. He points out that the Qianlong emperor's southern tours facilitated cultivation of Han commercial elites as sources of revenue during the middle of the eighteenth century. Consequently, in the 1760s, after the floods and military crises had subsided, Qianlong raised a question of "returning to purity and simplicity." It was an antimercantile discourse. At the same time, the Qing court began to pay attention to other Chinese elites who hoped to expand their hegemonic status within the examination system and the local society. The Qing court's embrace of scholarly elites is the subject of chapter 6. There the author focuses on the...

This article contextualizes the dual character of ”Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age(Shengshi zisheng tu)” both as a propagandistic cityscape and as a visual tribute from four aspects. First, as a native representative and a court painter, Xu Yang was commissioned to produce ”Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age”, a painting which declares the imperial visit as a benevolent act beneficial to and appreciated by local people. In completing the work, Xu played the role of middleman mediating between local society and the emperor. Second, ”Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age” was part of an extensive matrix of Suzhou imagery that was exchanged between the court and local society in the context of the imperial visits. Different members of Suzhou society appropriated landscapes of the area for the arrival of the emperor, and then Xu Yang synthesized these representational appropriations with imperial agendas. Third, Xu Yang transformed the format of capital cityscapes to project his non-capital hometown as a prosperous city comparable to past capitals and as an urban symbol of the Qing empire. Fourth, Xu Yang presented a sense of civic pride to the emperor by synthesizing local pictorial repertoires to depict thriving commerce, good government, and the famous sites of Suzhou and then adapting such images to emphasize the connection, which was brought about by the imperial tours, between the emperor and the people of Suzhou.The dual character of ”Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age” reveals how local society appropriated Suzhou landscapes for the imperial visits and how the Qianlong emperor also participated in this appropriation. On the one hand, local society promptly transformed the images of Suzhou in response to the conspicuous imperial tours: local officials actively reconstructed scenic sights and their new images in preparation for the emperor's arrival; the local publishing industry then issued related pictures and texts in order to profit from such spectacles. On the other hand, the Qianlong emperor also took part in the appropriation of local images by accepting new representations and by commissioning the synthesized ”Burgeoning Life in a Resplendent Age” both as a visual tribute and a propaganda painting that projects the imperial visit as beneficial to and appreciated by Suzhou natives.

Food culture development reflects a country’s growth to a certain extent. Qing Dynasty’s royal meals represent this period’s food culture. As the Qing Dynasty became stronger than before, it peaked during the Qianlong period. This development reflects the Qing Dynasty’s political, economic, and cultural development and occupies an essential position in the history of food culture. However, the development and influence of royal meals during the Qianlong period have yet to be comprehensively analyzed and sorted out. Therefore, this study aims to explore the development process of royal meals during the Qianlong period and the positive and negative effects on politics, economy, and culture. This article adopts qualitative research, including literature survey and analysis methods to classify and organize the literature and historical archives collected from Chinese historical archives and libraries. Through sorts out and analysis of the development of royal meals during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it found that the development of royal meals during the Qianlong period was accompanied by the development of national strength and the personal preferences of the emperor, and the development of royal meals also brought various influences. This study is of great value for studying ancient Chinese culinary culture and provides a new perspective for studying the social development during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, it also reminds us that while vigorously developing the cultural industry, we must consider its impact on society.

This article examines sources for the import of Japanese goods into China in order to discuss Sino-Japanese trade in Suzhou in the eighteenth century and how people in Suzhou consumed Japanese commodities. The ways that Suzhou residents consumed these commodities were influenced not only by the quality of Japanese goods but also by the ruling culture of the Qing dynasty. With the increase of population during the Ming and Qing dynasties, China began to import copper from Japan in order to mint coins. After the mid-eighteenth century, copper imports were outpaced by ocean products from Japan. Analysis of cook books from southern regions of China during the Qing dynasty shows that ocean products, soy sauce, miso, and wines had changed dining habits in China. Japanese wares, already favored by Ming literati, came in wider use during the Qing dynasty. They were commonly found in kitchens and bedchambers; commonly used imports included lacquer tea tables, tea plates, lacquer cabinets, and wash tables. During the Ming dynasty, it was the literati who determined what was fashionable; with the advent of the Qing dynasty, the role of fashion leader shifted to the royal family. The taste of the emperors deeply influenced that of commoners. The kinds of vessels produced by the Suzhou Production Bureau, as well as the gifts chosen by officials for the emperors, all reveal the tastes of the royal family. The dining ware popular during the Qing dynasty shows how ordinary people imitated their superiors. As for the emperors themselves, the Qianlong Emperor usually gave orders to the artisans that, when imitating Western style artifacts, they should somehow eliminate the ”western-ness” of those artifacts and make a clear distinction between Chinese and Western. Japanese artifacts, however, suffered from no such limitations and were much favored by the Qianlong Emperor. During his reign, foreign lacquer (yangqi) was not only a name of a particular product but also representated Japanese-style lacquerware in general. The influence of Manchu culture can also be seen in how people of Suzhou adapted to the winter season. Furs were commonly found in Suzhou markets during cold periods; people also used heating equipment imported from Japan. In sum, this article shows how the diet, daily utensils, and social customs changed with the import of Japanese commodities. The gradual assimilation of Japanese goods shows how Qing royal culture influenced common citizens and how citizens imitated this royal culture.

Lin Shuang-wen incident in Taiwan, happened in the late eighteenth century, is generally regarded as large-scale upheaval within society. Nonetheless, this upheaval, along with with the external campaigns between the Qing Empire and Xinjiang, northern Sichuan and other places, was known as Qianlong Emperor’s “Ten Great Campaigns.” It is clear to the end of Lin Shuang-wen incident is not just pacifying an unrest for the Qing Dynasty, but a milestone for solving the problems on the border. From this perspective, the action of the Qing Dynasty incorporating the illegal cultivation after the turmoil is in fact can be seen as a microcosm of the external expansion of the Qing Dynasty; while the land development after the turmoil can be seen as a microcosm of the frontier governing of the empire. Most of the relevant researches and studies on the empire and its frontier areas focus on the policy planning of the imperial court. However, there is an old Chinese saying: “Shang yǒu zhengce, xia yǒu duice (meaning the higher ups have policies while the lower downs have their own ways of getting around them)”; if we only understand the policy made by the imperial court without looking at the local’s response strategies, then we could merely measure the effectiveness of governance strategy on the surface through the perspective of imperial court, and cannot specifically understand the true face of history. Consequently, I believe that only through the method of regional research could we understand the governess of border areas. Deeply study the response process of local society after the execution of the policy, in order to further understand the governance strategy of the Qing Dynasty and its impact. After the Lin Shuang-wen incident, the empire mainly applied aborigine military colonies system (番屯制度)and guard posts system (隘墾制度) as strategies monitoring illegal cultivations out of bounds. Therefore, this study will explore how development of land of the local society was executed under these two strategies. The research region of this study is the upper basin of Touchian River in Hsinchu, formerly known as the region of Jiu Qiong Lin Zhuang (九芎林莊) and He Xing Zhuang (合興莊) in the Qing Dynasty, which is approx the region of Qionglin Township and Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County, of today. Jiu Qiong Lin Zhuang originally was an illegal cultivation area but was incorporated into the cultivation area after the Lin Shuang-wen incident. While He Xing Zhuang was an extended cultivation village after the execution of guard posts system. Thus, the regions’ developing process is precisely involved with the history process of the Qing Dynasty incorporating the outside regions. Through the investigation and research of the aforementioned regions, this study will point out that the implementation of the aborigine military colonies system and guard posts system in the late 18th century, though seemed like an approach of further controlling the border areas and preventing the Han people in Taiwan excessively expanding outward and avoiding conflicts and confrontations with the aborigines, the actual implementation process of the land developments often resulted in incorporating more illegal cultivation activities into the Qing Dynasty and become part of the empire. This kind of history process reflects that the land development developed by the Qing Dynasty in order to control the border areas actually blurred the border of the Qing Dynasty and gradually expanded outward. Which also represents that the territory changes of the empire was not necessarily based on outward expansion through military forces or culture influences; in Taiwan, the soft and flexible land development, on the other hand, is the major factor of how the empire could continue absorbing border areas

For a long time many scholars in China, Taiwan, Japan wanted to find out the true origin of the clan name ”Manchu” of the Qing rulers. Four possible answers were offered: (1) it stemmed from the name of a Bodhisattva ”Manjusri”; (2) it was based on the traditional ethnic name; (3) it was taken from a respectful title for the clan leaders, and (4) it was derived from the name of the land the Manchu originally inhabited. Although new evidence was found to justify these presumptions, most scholars were not convinced by the proofs. The origin of ”Manchu” remained a puzzle in early Qing history. This paper does not engage in solving the puzzle of the name, ”Manchu”, and its true origin, but merely sets out to ask the following question: ”On what grounds can the clan name 'Manchu' be traced to 'Manjusri'-a Bodhisattva?” From certain materials, we know that the connection was drawn built by the Manchu themselves. During the fifth emperor Qian-long's reign, Qing officials compiled a book entitled: Manzhou Yuanliu Kao (Textual Research into the Origins of the Manchu). In this book, the authors referred the name ”Manchu” to early Tibetan diplomatic letters, which had addressed the Qing leader as ”Manjusri emperor”. But in fact, according to earlier scholars, the Qing people had already used the title ”Manchu” as their clan name prior to the arrival of the first Tibetan mission at Mukden in Hong Taiji Chong-de 7. Still, most scholars relied on the scanty evidence upon which the textual enquiry was founded. In the second section of this paper, the author explains that the Qian-long court conducted such incorrect textual research not because of its muddle-headedness, but that this word was part of a series of strategies intended by Qianlong to tighten the relationship between ”Manchurian” and ”Tibetan Buddhism”. The attempt included the three aspects of ”Buddha”, ”Dharma” and ”monk”, and the aim was to support the Qing dynasty's rule over the western and north-western parts of the empire. At least, from the middle period of Qian-long's reign, the Manchurian rulers had partly used the Tibetan doctrine of the unity of polity and religion (”Zhen-jiao-he-yi”) as a political skill to rule their empire. In the third section the author discusses the history of the above-mentioned Tibetan doctrine, and comes to the conclusion that there were 6 steps in the Tibetan politico-religious relationship. In the tenth year of the Shun-zhi's reign, for the first time ever in the doctrine's history Dalai V offered a Bodhisattva name to a foreign living leader, which shows that the very procedure by which the Manchuian leader did manage to obtain his ”Manjusri emperor” title was due less to Tibetan custom than to politics. In conclusion the author mentions the events following the Qing emperors' acquisition of their respective Manjusri titles, the nature of their reactions as well as the effects the visit of Dalai V to the Qing empire had on governing the Mongolian tribes.

Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty celebrated his eightieth birthday in 1790, for which Vietnam, Korea, the RyūkyūIslands, Burma, and Mongolia sent delegates to the imperial summer resort at Chengde to pay homage. Curiously, the Annamese (or, Vietnamese) king NguyenQuangBinh, who had just defeated the Qing army, offered to appear in Qing costume and kowtow to the Qing emperor. The unusual act pleased Emperor Qianlong and infuriated the Korean delegates. What did costume and ceremonial mean in the context of the East Asian political and cultural order? Why did the British embassy to China led by Lord Macartney three years later cause friction with regards to sartorial and ceremonial manners? This lecture will address these questions.

The main trend of Chinese historiography from narration to textual research has a long history in which Zhu Minghao, who was an ordinary in late Ming, and his Shijiu is an outstanding example for its inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future. Although few records of Zhu was left, we can sketch his life, character and his writings by collecting scattered materials. Shijiu is Zhu's masterwork that wasn't published before his death. The edition in Imperial Collection of Four put in Wenyuange was the best among the handwritten and the carving copy at the beginning of Qing dynasty, the handwritten copy in Kangxi and Qianlong periods, the handwritten copy of Wang's Zhenqitang in Qianlong period, the block-printed edition by Tinghuaguan, the Zhihai Series, the Haixue Shanfang edition etc., but we still can find mistakes and different records when making textual examination between it and the handwritten copy of Qing and the Haixue Shanfang edition. Due to the criticism and textual research on Ming history and the pursuing of ”real historiography” to put into social practice rose during middle Ming and late Ming separately, Shijiu records not only much textual research on official histories, but also criticism on methods of historiography. Later, Shijiu was absorbed in the Imperial Collection of Four which shows that Zhu's historiography is in accordance with those in Qing dynasty.

This article focuses on the production of illustrations of ”Official Tribute” to explore the relationship between imagery and rule at the Qianlong court. An examination of the various editions of ”Official Tribute” from the Qianlong period reveals the integrative powers of the Grand Council, the center of political power at the time. It mobilized an entire bureaucratic network to produce images numbering in the thousands. These pictorial achievements were used as diplomatic gifts for emissaries to the court. This study also arranges and compares later additions to the original images, highlighting their compositional principles and order. The first scroll discussed here, therefore, is a composite representing the notion ofthe imperial capital, indicating that ”Official Tribute” is also an imperial image arranged sequentially by geography from the political center of the country outwards to its borders. By giving away these images to members of the ”empire,” the Qianlong Emperor not only endowed emissaries to the court with a collective consciousness of the Qing Empire, he also defined the individual status of each member within the empire. Furthermore, the presentation of this imperial order, in terms of both content and format, reveals many innovations. For example, the pairing of a man and woman to represent a particular place or country, a method that originated in Europe, and a much greater emphasis on ”Western” proportion in representing the image of the imperial capital in the first scroll. Other documentary evidence confirms that modern concepts of the ”West” became integral parts of Qianlong's image building and imperial construct.

YuchuXinzhi with its 20 volume of 150 short novels was a collection of Chinese novels in both Ming and Qing Dynasties. Scholars in Mainland and Taiwan have paid little attention to this collection. However, it is a popular collection in Meiji period in Japan. We can even see some old original versions made in Qing Dynasty in Japan's libraries that can not be found in Taiwan or China. Many editions were found in the Ynchu Xinzhi. Kangxi version, Qianlong 25(1760) Yiqingtang pocket-size version and Xianfeng 1(1851) version are the representative ones among the editions. Several revisions have been conducted in the Yuchu Xinzhi during Qing Dynasty, which results in different list of contents of each version. Although the list of Chinese classics may classify the Yuchu Xinzhi as ”the Kangxi original version,” one can not fully trust it without any examination. This article examines the relation between editions in Qianlong period, the changes of editions made after Xianfeng, and how 150 short novels were finally established.

Silk and Horses: Trade and Tribute between the Qing Dynasty and the Kazakh Khanate

Shenyang served as the capital of the Qing dynasty before its conquest of China and housed the ancestral tombs of Qing emperors, including Nurhaci and Hong Taiji. After the conquest of China, Qing emperors visited Shenyang for ancestral tomb worship, known as Dongxun (Eastern Tours). During these tours, Joseon dispatched Munansa, or envoys of greetings, to inquire about the emperor's well-being and demonstrate its loyalty to the Qing dynasty. In response, the Qing court reciprocated with elaborate reception rituals and special imperial gifts, underscoring the emperor’s grace. In return, the Joseon court sent envoys of gratitude (Saeunsa) to acknowledge these honors. The reception rituals for Munansa were not initially a fixed tradition but gradually evolved over time. The mission of Yi Hon in 1698 marked the beginning of these formalized processes. Subsequent missions by Jo Hyeon-myeong in 1743 and Yu Cheok-gi in 1754 further refined the procedural framework, eventually encompassing welcoming ceremonies, imperial audiences, banquets, the presentation of gifts, and farewell rituals. These rituals reflected the Qing dynasty’s strategic intentions: to reinforce Joseon's loyalty and highlight the emperor’s magnanimity. Emperor Qianlong's special treatment of the Munansa delegations in 1743 and 1754 reaffirmed his favor toward Joseon during King Yeongjo's reign. Following Qianlong's accession, this period was marked by limited direct contact between the emperor and Joseon envoys in Beijing, making these missions particularly crucial for maintaining close diplomatic ties. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Qing dynasty’s preferential treatment of the Munansa missions became even more pronounced. Emperor Qianlong’s exceptional hospitality toward the two Munansa missions sent by King Jeongjo played a crucial role in strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries during this period. Furthermore, honoring the Munansa missions provided additional strategic benefits. It helped mitigate negative perceptions among Joseon officials regarding their selection for Munansa missions, alleviated suspicions surrounding the emperor's Dongxun, and countered unfavorable views of Shenyang itself.

During the reigns of Qianlong and Jiaqing when textology was very popular, Zhuang Cunyu, who came from Changzhou, focused on studying Confucian classics. Not only did he love prose and poetry, he also wrote Chunqiu zheng ci, which elucidates Gongyang's terse and significant statements. Although Zhuang did not fully devote his efforts to exalting the studies of Gongyang, nor did he reject ancient literary studies, his relatives and others made the Changzhou School of Thought an independent clique. Zhuang's son Zhuang Shuzu, grandson Liu Fenglu, as well as Song Xiangfung enhanced and glorified the studies of Gongyang. The Changzhou School of Thought later influenced the reform ideas of Zizhen Gong and Yuan Wei during the reigns of Jaiqing and Daoguang. Furthermore, this school of thought became the mainstream during the late Qing Dynasty and was the theoretical weapon that Kang Youwei used during the Hundred Day's Reform.In addition to elucidating this school of thought, this paper will trace the developmental process of modern literature during the reigns of Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang. It argues that it transitioned from ”theories on studying” to ”theories of politics.” This article will also discuss reasons why scholars like Liu Fenglu and others advocated for He Xiu's explanations as the mainstream of the Gongyang style of studies. Furthermore, the Analects of Confucius will be analyzed in light of the Gongyang style. The essay then discusses Gong Zizhen and Yuan Wei's interpretation of other classics by using Gongyang Zhuan Disclosure, as well as their ”quoting classics to support political ideas” with principles in these classics to found their concepts of reform during the reigns of Jiaqing and Daoguang. These developments influenced the trend of thoughts in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the popularity of modern literature in the Qing Dynasty is significant for studies of both intellectual history and academic history. The research is based on archival records and will begin with analysis of Zhuang Cunyu, Kong Guangsen, Liu Fenglu, Song Xiangfung, Zizhen Gong and Yuan Wei to trace how ”theories on studying” shifted to ”theories of politics” and led to the revival of modern literature in the Qing Dynasty.

用鷹比喻政治之事，是常見於清前期統治者的作法。因為在屬於漁獵文化的女真社會中，鷹既是具體行獵所用之物，也是抽象的文化符碼。牠快速、勇猛、忠心的特質，被滿洲統治者視為八旗子弟應具有的美德。過去的研究者多將焦點放在鷹與北亞薩滿信仰的連繫上，卻從未注意到，在滿洲鷹文化的影響下，統治者不斷利用鷹這個文化符碼，推行政治上有利的措施。本論文從政治文化的角度切入，分析滿洲統治者的政治思維模式和行動風格，輔以文化交流理論，以及過往學者對於內亞地區的研究成果，討論滿洲人如何在政體轉變、國家機制擴大的同時，汲取自身文化傳統中的資源，以鷹這個跨滿、蒙、漢、回文化的符碼，強化民族認同，並面對帝國中不同文化的子民，乃至於帝國周邊有著相似文化傳統的民族。 本論文的主要架構有三，首先介紹滿洲鷹文化在入關前的形塑過程、入關後維持的狀況，以及當官方進行帝國整體知識建構時，透過此一知識化過程所建立起的滿洲鷹類系譜。其次，從鷹的迅捷、勇猛形象出發，討論清朝統治者如何利用滿洲文化中鷹的正面形象，做為要求八旗將士和官員的標準，同時突出鷹的軍事特質，將其納入大閱等國家軍禮的儀式，及舉行場所之中。最後，以鷹的社會性意涵為切入點，考察清帝國內部臣工進鷹的情形，將其視為清代皇帝建立「君臣一體」關係中的重要環節，並針對滿洲與蒙古、回部等周邊民族首領互相贈送鷹隻的情形加以討論，論析雙方送鷹的共同傳統文化基礎，檢視清帝國與內亞地區互動的權力關係，並藉此探討帝國的往來模式。同時從滿洲人面對的時代課題，來思考大清做為一個多民族帝國的特色。

The compilation of ”Si Ku QuanShu”(四庫全書) during the reign of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong emperor was an unprecedented and great cultural undertaking. The original plan to produce four copies of the anthology was later expanded to include two copies of the ”Hui Yao” excerpts collection, and three other full copies to be housed in the South.It took thousands of copyists to transcribe the works by hand. Those who transcribed the original four copies and the ”Hui Yao” were mostly Imperial College scholars who were promised official positions upon completion of the project. Since they essentially became low-level officials by merit of transcribing the works, instead of passing the imperial exam, their status was quite different from that of a general copyist. The names of these transcribers were published along with the anthology, but this was largely ignored. In the 1970s, a group of scholars sorted out the names of the ”Hui Yao” transcription team, adding up to less than a third of the total number of scribes.This dissertation draws on a photocopied version of the Wen Yuan pavilion (文淵閣) copy of the ”Si Ku QuanShu” as its source, conducting a comparative analysis of nearly three thousand names and compiling a scribe roster. It is hoped that this will result in greater visibility and recognition of the ”Si Ku QuanShu” transcription team's contribution to this project, furthermore providing future possibilities for research and expanding the scope of Si Ku studies as an academic discipline.