China: The Three Emperors - 1162-1795
From Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes_, by anonymous court artists, Yongzheng period (1723—35). One of 14 album leaves, colour on silk. The Palace Museum, Beijing

From Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, by anonymous court artists, Yongzheng period (1723—35). One of 14 album leaves, colour on silk. The Palace Museum, Beijing

Facts and Figures

  1. China: The Three Emperors, 1662—1795 is the largest exhibition held in the UK dedicated to court art. Many of the works are unique and are rarely displayed.
  2. The exhibition continues the RA’s tradition of hosting outstanding exhibitions exploring world cultures, including Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600—1600 (2005), Aztecs (2002) and Africa: The Art of a Continent (1995)
  3. The RA’s exhibition Genius of China: An Exhibition of Archaeological Finds attracted over 770,000 visitors in 1973—74.
  4. In China: The Three Emperors, 1662—1795, 95% of exhibits are from the Palace Museum, Beijing, whose holdings of over 1 million artefacts make it one of the largest museums in China.
  5. Of the 400 works in the exhibition over 130 are paintings, an unprecedented number loaned by the Palace Museum.
  6. China: The Three Emperors, 1662—1795 will focus on a 150-year period that spans the reigns of three of the most powerful Qing emperors: father, son and grandson: Kangxi (1662—1722), Yongzheng (1723—35) and Qianlong (1736—95).
  7. The Qing (pronounced ‘Ching’) was China’s last imperial dynasty. The rulers were Manchus.
  8. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the Qing was one of the largest land empires of Eurasia. The other two were the Romanov empire in Russia and the Ottoman empire based in what is now Turkey.
  9. The Qing court embraced the Jesuits as artists and advisors on Western science. Many hundreds of scientific instruments and clocks were sent by European rulers as gifts to the Qing court.
  10. The last emperor of the Qing dynasty fell in 1911 and a republic was proclaimed the following year.
  11. The Kangxi Emperor was an exceptional ruler who consolidated the Qing state militarily and politically.
  12. He ruled for over sixty years, the full cycle of the Chinese calendar.
  13. Kangxi’s son Yinzhen, who became the Yongzheng Emperor in 1723, was renowned as a great administrator whose short reign is famous for the production of refined decorative arts in the palace workshops.
  14. Qianlong was an indefatigable champion of Chinese culture. He assembled the largest art collection in history and is the author of 30,000 poems.
  15. Dragons, the most powerful of China’s mythical beasts, and symbols of protection and good fortune, are emblems of imperial power.
  16. www.threeemperors.org.uk a dedicated website has been created to accompany China: The Three Emperors, 1662—1795.