The Art Of Power

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Qianlong was a true connoisseur. He not only admired bronzes from China's earliest dynasties, classical paintings and calligraphy, but he also wrote about them — sometimes on the works themselves. He stamped his approval on a piece quite literally, and his seals seem to be everywhere. For instance, several seals and a colophon mark Spring's Peaceful Message, a charming double portrait, painted by Castiglione around 1736, of Qianlong and his father. The older man is handing his son a sprig of flowering apricot, symbolizing a peaceful transition of power and wishes for a fruitful reign. Yongzheng did not want his chosen heir to suffer the questions of legitimacy that he did.

The Royal Academy exhibition is much more than Qing propaganda, exquisite as it is. There is a large room devoted to literati paintings, some produced by Ming loyalists protesting foreign rule in subtle works that speak of isolation, removal or quiet outrage. And many artifacts demonstrate the three Emperors' fascination with technology from Europe, like clocks and sextants, and religions from Asia, particularly Buddhism. In one painting on cloth, Qianlong sits cross-legged in Buddhist dress, surrounded by religious iconography. He holds the wheel of teaching — the traditional Buddhist symbol — in his left hand and, with his right, forms his thumb and forefinger into the classical discussion mudra, or gesture. The show also documents the gradual influence of Western art on Chinese painting — mainly Castiglione's introduction of light and shadow, focal point and perspective. The Jesuits brought art and science to the Qing court, but didn't make many converts.

The curators have brilliantly juxtaposed many of the items in the show. A sedan chair used by Qianlong is placed before an enormous painting, Imperial Banquet in the Garden of Ten Thousand Trees, in which a similar chair, borne by 16 eunuchs, ferries Qianlong to a celebration with Torghut Mongols who kneel before him. A circle framing the portrait of Qianlong writing calligraphy on an enormous banana leaf is echoed in an intricate jade carving of a round moon gate — as well as in an architectural moon gate that separates two rooms in the exhibition. A display case of ruyi scepters is paired with a hanging scroll, The Yongzheng Emperor Admiring Flowers, in which that sovereign holds just such a symbol of power.

Although the Manchus continued to rule China until the last Emperor abdicated in 1912, the Qing Dynasty declined after the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Their weaker successors were humbled by European powers and never matched the splendor and sophistication their forebears deployed in marrying art with empire building. The three, shrewd emperors knew exactly how to make power politics look good. It's a skill that the resurgent China of today may yet acquire.