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Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with "*''Born: '' *''Died: '' *''Reign: 1735-1796'' *''Chinese/Japanese'': 乾隆帝 ''(Qiánlóng dì / Kenryuu tei)'' The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty ruled o..."
*''Born: ''
*''Died: ''
*''Reign: [[1735]]-[[1796]]''
*''Chinese/Japanese'': 乾隆帝 ''(Qiánlóng dì / Kenryuu tei)''
The Qianlong Emperor of the [[Qing Dynasty]] ruled over one of the longest and most prosperous reigns of late imperial China. Comprising the better part of the 18th century, the Qianlong reign saw numerous significant political, economic, social, and cultural events.
He succeeded the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] in [[1735]],
During his reign, he attempted to better unite the two Qing bureaucracies of the banners (Mongols, Manchus, and "military" Chinese) and Han Chinese, by requiring members of the banners to take [[Chinese imperial examinations|exams]] in classical Chinese, and not only in Mongol or Manchu. Though deeply committed to Chinese scholarly and cultural traditions, however, Qianlong was also very active in championing Manchu identity, and embracing [[Tibetan Buddhism]], expanding the Imperial compound at [[Chengde]] and transforming it into a religious center in the Tibetan mode.
Over the course of his reign, Qianlong also engaged in a number of military adventures, known as the [[Ten Great Campaigns]]. These included, in [[1789]], a Chinese intervention into [[Tay Son|Vietnamese succession disputes]] which ended in the Chinese being expelled from Vietnam.
On his 80th birthday in [[1790]], the emperor invited theatre troupes to perform at the palace. This occasion is oft-cited as representing the origins of ''[[jingju]]'' (Beijing opera).
In [[1793]], Qianlong famously granted an audience to British ambassador [[George Lord Macartney]], leader of the first formal British embassy to China. Though it is commonly believed that Macartney refused to ''[[kowtow]]'' to the Emperor, and that for that reason the mission was unsuccessful in establishing more open trade relations, scholars have argued that the failure of the mission was more the result of competing and incompatible worldviews. In short, Britain was not willing to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state within China's Imperial system, and China was not willing to see Britain as an equal, or superior, in a world of [[nation-state]]s.
Qianlong abdicated in [[1796]] in favor of his son, who then took the throne as the [[Jiaqing Emperor]].
==Patron of the Arts==
He was an avid art collector, and can be credited for amassing a great many of the most famous treasures which today comprise the former Imperial collection.<ref>Now divided between the Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei.</ref> Many of the most famous works in Chinese art history passed through his hands, and bear colophons (commentaries or poetic responses) by the Qianlong Emperor, along with his seals (with multiple seals often used on the same painting, marking not only his ownership, but his appreciation of the work).
He also patronized [[Giuseppe Castiglione]], an Italian [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary and artist, appointing him court painter, and encouraging experimentation with incorporating Western artistic techniques (e.g. perspective, realistic light & shadow, realistic detail) into traditional Chinese painting. He commissioned Castiglione in [[1737]] to design a number of pavilions for the Imperial gardens; with the help of other Jesuit artists, architects, and the like, he saw the [[Yuanmingyuan]] (aka the Old Summer Palace) built in [[1747]]-[[1759]].
{{stub}}
<center>
{| border="3" align="center"
|- align="center"
|width="35%"|Preceded by<br>'''[[Yongzheng Emperor]]'''
|width="25%"|'''Emperor of [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]]<br>[[1735]]-[[1796]]'''
|width="35%"|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Jiaqing Emperor]]'''
|}
</center>
==References==
*[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 115.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
*''Died: ''
*''Reign: [[1735]]-[[1796]]''
*''Chinese/Japanese'': 乾隆帝 ''(Qiánlóng dì / Kenryuu tei)''
The Qianlong Emperor of the [[Qing Dynasty]] ruled over one of the longest and most prosperous reigns of late imperial China. Comprising the better part of the 18th century, the Qianlong reign saw numerous significant political, economic, social, and cultural events.
He succeeded the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] in [[1735]],
During his reign, he attempted to better unite the two Qing bureaucracies of the banners (Mongols, Manchus, and "military" Chinese) and Han Chinese, by requiring members of the banners to take [[Chinese imperial examinations|exams]] in classical Chinese, and not only in Mongol or Manchu. Though deeply committed to Chinese scholarly and cultural traditions, however, Qianlong was also very active in championing Manchu identity, and embracing [[Tibetan Buddhism]], expanding the Imperial compound at [[Chengde]] and transforming it into a religious center in the Tibetan mode.
Over the course of his reign, Qianlong also engaged in a number of military adventures, known as the [[Ten Great Campaigns]]. These included, in [[1789]], a Chinese intervention into [[Tay Son|Vietnamese succession disputes]] which ended in the Chinese being expelled from Vietnam.
On his 80th birthday in [[1790]], the emperor invited theatre troupes to perform at the palace. This occasion is oft-cited as representing the origins of ''[[jingju]]'' (Beijing opera).
In [[1793]], Qianlong famously granted an audience to British ambassador [[George Lord Macartney]], leader of the first formal British embassy to China. Though it is commonly believed that Macartney refused to ''[[kowtow]]'' to the Emperor, and that for that reason the mission was unsuccessful in establishing more open trade relations, scholars have argued that the failure of the mission was more the result of competing and incompatible worldviews. In short, Britain was not willing to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state within China's Imperial system, and China was not willing to see Britain as an equal, or superior, in a world of [[nation-state]]s.
Qianlong abdicated in [[1796]] in favor of his son, who then took the throne as the [[Jiaqing Emperor]].
==Patron of the Arts==
He was an avid art collector, and can be credited for amassing a great many of the most famous treasures which today comprise the former Imperial collection.<ref>Now divided between the Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei.</ref> Many of the most famous works in Chinese art history passed through his hands, and bear colophons (commentaries or poetic responses) by the Qianlong Emperor, along with his seals (with multiple seals often used on the same painting, marking not only his ownership, but his appreciation of the work).
He also patronized [[Giuseppe Castiglione]], an Italian [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionary and artist, appointing him court painter, and encouraging experimentation with incorporating Western artistic techniques (e.g. perspective, realistic light & shadow, realistic detail) into traditional Chinese painting. He commissioned Castiglione in [[1737]] to design a number of pavilions for the Imperial gardens; with the help of other Jesuit artists, architects, and the like, he saw the [[Yuanmingyuan]] (aka the Old Summer Palace) built in [[1747]]-[[1759]].
{{stub}}
<center>
{| border="3" align="center"
|- align="center"
|width="35%"|Preceded by<br>'''[[Yongzheng Emperor]]'''
|width="25%"|'''Emperor of [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]]<br>[[1735]]-[[1796]]'''
|width="35%"|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Jiaqing Emperor]]'''
|}
</center>
==References==
*[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Chinese Civilization'', Third Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 115.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Emperors]]
