Analysis Of Qianlong's Education

Qianlong’s education started at a very young age and was said to have been a child prodigy that by the age of six had learned Chinese characters, and commence his study under a tutor at the age of seven and studied all the Chinese classics with Hanlin scholars. As well as legendary rulers of the Chinese antiquity, Qianlong’s models were those of highly educated, usually referred to literati. Literati were scholars with high intelligence that aimed for ‘ya’, which meant elegance of thought, strong sense of character with the goal of living a simple life . Dressed in tradition Ming style clothing and headwear, Qianlong is portrayed as what he fantasies himself to be, a scholarly literati with an identical portrait of him in the background,

Being able to possess ancient dynasty objects has been seen as a sign of the legitimate ruler. Qianlong as the commissioner and the subject of this painting, intentionally representing himself of Han Chinese culture seems to communicate one message to the viewers just as what he once expressed about himself: ‘I, having grown up in the court and studied for twenty years, am in reality a scholar.’ Therefore, him, as the emperor, understands, protects and restores Han Chinese culture, and possesses the true treasures of Chinese culture, is the ultimate ruler of China.

Qianlong’s Imperial art collection diverse in terms of chronologically, as well as geographically, including items from surrounding regions and far away nations such as France and England. Such items usually come into the hands of Qianlong from the tribute

China during this period was the largest country comprising 4.6 million square miles of land and was the wealthiest country. In the foreground (bottom right-hand side corner) stands a crowd of figures. Viewers’ attention is drawn immediately to this group of figures as they are placed at eye-level, and it is the most colourful area of the painting. These are all guests from neighbor states and foreign lands including Korea, Burma, Kazakhstan and France. Some of these envoys may have been travelling over a long period to arrive in China and present their tributes of precious goods to Qianlong Emperor. Following the implied line created by continuous groups of Qing Imperial court officials dressed in blue, the viewer’s attention is drawn to the rather large figure – Qianlong, who is surrounded by many court officials. The slightly enlarged proportion of the Emperor’s body indicates his importance in the painting. The contrast between the Qianlong’s sitting posture and envoys standing, as well as the barriers created by the many architectural walls reinforce the importance of the Qianlong. He is located in a much higher position in the painting, indicating the legitimate status of Qianlong Emperor and his political