‘Redefining an imperial collection: problems of modern impositions and interpretations’

Abstract

This paper challenges the assumed popular identity of the so-called Qianlong imperial art collection and argues that it has been largely constructed with modern Eurocentric views. By applying philological and historiographical analysis, the original meaning of the collection, as it was understood in the eighteenth century, is restored. The new definition reveals that the actual collection was not as monumental as previously portrayed. In addition, by re-examining the political and historical milieu of the early twentieth century, it is disclosed that the financial strain faced by the Qing imperial household and the need to promote nationalism by the Republican government both contributed to the destruction of the original definition of the actual collection. Overall, this paper will challenge the “canon” that has been constituted around the collection after the twentieth century and provides an alternative understanding towards imperial collecting activities.

Keywords

• Qianlong
• art collection
• imperial household
• Qing
• nationalism