bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Linda Lew

Period drama The Story of Yanxi Palace has taken China by storm, attracting millions of viewers. The show focuses on the emperor Qianlong and his harem of scheming concubines.
He is mostly portrayed as a cultured ruler, well versed in literature and the arts – except for his tendency to leave marks all over masterpieces in his collection.
How China’s iQiyi knew imperial concubine drama would be a hit
“Look at this Autumn colours on the Qiao and Hua mountains, one, two, three … over 40 stamps! These are all printed by your highness,” one of the concubines and the heroine of the show, Yingluo Wei, says in one scene, mocking the emperor.
The 13th century painting mentioned in the drama is housed in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. To this day, it still bears the ruler’s stamp marks and writings on the blank space of the canvas.

Qianlong was China’s longest reigning sovereign, ruling over six decades in the 18th century, and his exploits made good fodder for historical novels and period series. During his reign the country was prosperous and the arts flourished under his patronage. His collection of artefacts has been called the “culmination of five thousand years of Chinese civilisation” by the National Palace Museum.
The scriptwriters of The Story of Yanxi Palace are not the only ones who have questioned the emperor’s behaviour.
In 2016, Chinese art blog Flying Bird published a post called Yongzheng: I don’t have such a village idiot son like you, which compared Qianlong’s tastes in art to that of his father, Yongzheng.


“Yongzheng’s taste is well admired, following a less-is-more principle. But Qing dynasty style changed suddenly when Qianlong’s time came,” the post explains, lining up the vases commissioned by father and son side by side. Yongzheng’s were simple and elegant. Qianlong’s were busy and colourful.
“It is like someone wearing all the luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Gucci at once. Heaps of money spent, but still tasteless,” the blog adds.
The post went viral, and people discovered another side to the legendary ruler.

Even CCTV, the national television broadcaster, took a dig. In a 2017 history programme called The Nation’s Greatest Treasures, a spoof involving Qianlong and the artists whose works he had graffitied was featured.
TV series on treasures in Chinese museums a social media hit
In a dream sequence from The Nation’s Greatest Treasures, 4th century calligrapher Wang Xizhi appeared to rebuke Qianlong. Wang’s craft is considered among China’s best. The emperor had left dozens of red stamps on Wang’s masterpiece Letter on a snowy day and wrote on it in more than 70 places.
The show also came to Qianlong’s defence. The emperor, portrayed by actor Kai Wang, said in the programme he wrote notes and poetry on the paintings to help others in future understand the works he so admired.
Qianlong’s eclectic taste is also thought to have elevated porcelain craftsmanship.

A vase made during his rule is nicknamed The Mother of all China, as it is a mishmash of at least 15 different Western and Eastern glazes and enamels. The piece is now housed in Beijing’s Palace Museum.
The 86cm tall vase was produced in Jingde, a city in Jiangxi province, in eastern China, that had been making porcelain for hundreds of years. Pieces like this commissioned by Qianlong pushed artisans’ skills to the limit.


“The vase is a tour-de-force of ceramic techniques. This important vase was likely made for the emperor so he could appreciate the technical achievements illustrated in the vase,” Judith Dowling, from Skinner Auctions, said in promotional materials for a sister vase to The Mother of All China.

In 2014 the sister vase fetched a record US$24.7 million at a Skinner Auctions sale in Boston, a price indicative of the value of Qianlong’s legacy.
“I am a show-off. I am showing off the skills of the Jingde artisans. I am showing off the Qing dynasty’s power,” Kai Wang says, portraying the emperor in The Nation’s Greatest Treasures.


US-China rivalry: great powers that don’t make things won’t be great for long

How ancient Chinese new year cards went from elites’ greetings to bribery instruments

Composite tool find puts China at centre of tech revolution up to 160,000 years ago: paper

Gezhi Town movie review: Chinese war drama with Xiao Zhan dares to entertain

Chinese history

Concubine-loving emperor was an art vandal with dubious taste

“The Story of Yanxi Palace” is an imperial romance drama co-produced by iQiyi in China. It focuses on the 18th century emperor Qianlong.

Chinese art blog Flying Bird  compares vases commissioned by Qianlong's father, Yongzheng, and the emperor himself and Yongzheng’s was simple and elegant

Screen cap of CCTV's history programme Greatest National Treasures

Zhao Mengfu's 
Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains from the National Palace Museum, Taipei

A vase made during Emperor Qianlong's rule  that is nicknamed The Mother of all China,

Lifestyle

Arts

China TV drama The Story of Yanxi Palace is just the latest example of Emperor Qianlong’s approach to art being called into question. He couldn’t resist writing in the margins of paintings


China TV drama The Story of Yanxi Palace is just the latest example of Emperor Qianlong’s approach to art being called into question. He couldn’t resist writing in the margins of paintings.


Chinese culture

Chinese language cinema