Time was up for the Ming. Corruption, natural disasters and popular uprisings took their toll on the Ming, but it was the invading Manchu rebellion that did the Ming Empire in.
As the Manchu invaded, someone opened the gates for the marauding rebels.
The Chongzhen Emperor hung himself rather than face them.
The End of the MING
Qing Dynastyis Born
The Ming Dynasty fell in 1644
The Manchu then formed the last Dynasty of China, the Qing.
EmperorKangxi
Look for:
Chinese and
Manchu script in
the Forbidden
City
The Manchus were foreigners
who forced native Han Chinese to wear a pigtail
which was forbidden to cut
off.
Kangxi Emperor Reigned 1662-1722
Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor as a Young Man, Anonymous
The longest serving Emperor of China
Expanded borders by invading Tibet.
Kangxi took 6 grand tours of his empire and had them immortalized
in a grand set of hand scrolls. No Ming Emperor ever did.
The Emperor would love to pose as a noble with servants and mingle to the people.
Qianlong EmperorReigned 1736-96
Inauguration Portrait of Qianlong (Detail)Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining), 1736
• Revered his Grandfather
• Retired as Emperor after 61 years to let Kangxi’s long serving record stand.
• Expanded borders further
• Also went on grand tour and
commissioned set of scrolls.
Like his Grandfather, Qianlong also enjoyed popping out in commoners’ clothing to enjoy life’s simple pleasures without being recognized.
One day, the Emperor and his companions (guards) went into a teahouse where, to remain anonymous, he took a turn at pouring tea for everyone on the table as good manners dictate.
Rather than give his identity away by kowtowing to the Emperor, the guards used their fingers to represent the bow.
Ever since, Chinese tea drinkers have used this gesture as an expression of gratitude to the friend who fills their teacups.
For extra dining points while dining, it’s considered ultra-polite to offer to pour the first round.
Chinese tea drinkers say
‘thank you’ with their fingers
Giuseppe Castiglione Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shih-ning)(Lang Shih-ning)
1688-17661688-1766
Giuseppe Castiglione Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shih-ning)(Lang Shih-ning)
1688-17661688-1766
Qianlong was an avid art collector.
Qianlong Emperor as the Bodhisattva Manjusri (Detail), face by
Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining)
Robert PonzioChair, Fine Arts
Oak Hall SchoolGainesville, FL
“Journey Through Space”
What the Kangxi and Qianlong
Southern Inspection Tour Scrolls reveal about
Chinese and WesternConceptions of
SPACE
Traditional Western Depictions of Space
•Concerned with reproducing how the eye sees
• Image has fixed edges
•Organized based on receding vanishing points
•Artist controls viewer vantage point
One Point Perspective System
Gentile Bellini’s “Procession in Piazza San Marco”, 1496
Traditional Chinese Depiction of Space
Artist Wang Hui’s hand scrolls utilize traditional Chinese depictions of space.
The Hand Scroll Format
Traditional Chinese Maps: Experience of the journey is more important than Scale
Spatial Transition PointSpatial Transition Point
Mist / Transition- Kangxi Scroll 7
Working with the traditional Chinese conceptions of shifting space, Wang Hui utilizes a thick fog to fade out from one scene to the next.
This creative means of transitioning impressed upon the viewer the perception of the passing of time.
Elements of the landscape and architecture are subtly revealed as they peak out of the mist, allowing the viewer to gain a sense of traveling over a great distance.
As the mist ultimately disappears, we then find ourselves in the next town.
Mist / Transition- Kangxi Scroll 7
Wang Hui shows travelers disappearing into the mist as they embark upon a long
journey…
Mist / Transition- Kangxi Scroll 3
…they eventually reappear after an immeasurable passage of time and distance.
Mist / Transition- Kangxi Scroll 3
Giuseppe Castiglione,
(Lang Shih-ning), 1688-1766
IntroducesThe
Vanishing Point
TThe Qianlong Scrolls:he Qianlong Scrolls: Showing Western InfluenceShowing Western Influence
Influence of Western Perspective in Qianlong Scrolls
Qianlong Scroll Number 4 by Xu Yang
More concerned with reproducing how the eye sees than in Kangxi scrolls.
Xu Yang maintains consistent vanishing points throughout duration of scroll.
Qianlong Scroll Number 4 by Xu Yang
Figures diminish in size and number limiting information available to viewer.
Qianlong Scroll Number 6 by Xu Yang
Changzhou on the Grand Canal
Website studies Qing Dynasty History and Culture by examiningSouthern Inspection Tour scrolls commissioned by
Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong
Collection of Roy and Marilyn Papp
Claudia Brown
Janet Baker
Roy Papp
Marilyn Papp
Welcome to Changzhou! Wang Hui1689 A.D.
Scroll 6 depicts Kangxi’s journey along the Grand Canal to Changzhou.
Wang Hui grew up in the relatively poor village of Yushan, near Changshu, Jiangsu Province… his home village being only 15 miles away from Changzhou!
This explains why he dedicated so much scroll space and detail to this relatively small area.
`Fueled the Industrial Revolution
SILKSILK
(We still call this china today.)
Porcelain
Qing leadership strictly limited trade and contact with the outside world.
If you wanted to do business with China, you had to follow their rules and literally pay tribute.
The Qing created a strict hierarchy for their society
with Manchus at the top.
They mandated that
international trade only be
done far in the south.
This kept all the foreigners
controlled and in one place.
Macau
Macau, (which they allowed the Portuguese to control), was the only port opened to
foreign trade.
The British, wanting to increase their trade greatly
were frustrated by this limitation.
Macau
The British wanted to open new trade ports of their own.
They tried desperately to do so, often insulting the
Emperor in the process by attempting to create trade
ports in other coastal cities often without permission.
The British had no goods to offer in trade The British had no goods to offer in trade that would interest the Qing. that would interest the Qing.
They were forced to They were forced to pay in silver which pay in silver which caused a vast trade caused a vast trade
imbalanceimbalance..
They desperately needed to find a product They desperately needed to find a product they could trade in China to solve this.they could trade in China to solve this.
With an influx of cheaper opium, demand began to increase in China.
Opium Den
For the first time, Silver started pouring OUT of China.
In 1810, China enjoyed a favorable trade balance with $26 million silver dollars coming into China. 20 years later in 1830, $34 million silver dollarswere flooding out of China for opium!
With opium came all the social problems usually associated with drug addiction.
1838, THE QING HAD ENOUGH!They started a plan to rid the opium plague from their country.
They began by punishing severely anyone who sold the drug as well as addicts who would not rehabilitate.
They then went after the British stores of the drug…
… and then kicked the British out.
2.6 Million pounds of Opium were destroyed.
1839 The British retreated to a barren, rocky island where hardly a house existed at the time.
The island was Hong Kong
Hong Kong Today
Who would have guessed?!
The British remembered fighting Napoleon's modern military of Le Grand Armei. They did
not fear what they perceived as an antiquated Qing military.
They prepared to go to war.
Chinese sailing shipsproved no match for
British steam engines.
On March 18 1839,
The Opium War Begins
The Qing thought The Qing thought that on land, they that on land, they
would have a would have a home field home field
advantage… but as advantage… but as it proved, it proved,
they didn’t. they didn’t.
These unequal Treaties were a humiliation to China.
The Qing had no choice but to sign the hated
Treaty of Nanjing, August 29, 1842.
UK: Hong Kong, Guangdong Province. Yangze River Valley
FRANCE: Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, and Guangdong Provinces
GERMANY: Shandong Province
RUSSIA:Liaoning & Shandong Province.
JAPAN: Dongbei, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Taiwan
Dividing Up China
80 treaty ports
Shanghai
The Bund
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