What Emperor Qianlong did with his court painters is the 18th century equivalent of digital photo manipulation and Photoshop
2-MIN READ2-MINFran Luin BeijingPublished: 10:00am, 23 Sep 2026The Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne.
Long before Cixi (1835–1908), the Qing dynasty’s emperors Yongzheng (1678–1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711–1799), indulged in role-playing, as evidenced in numerous paintings.
Yongzheng, whose reign lasted 13 years, was known as a strict and relentless workaholic. Thus, the contrast of his playful side revealed in the role-playing paintings often surprised many.
He left behind two albums titled The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, each featuring paintings of him portraying various characters, including a Taoist priest, a Buddhist lama, a Han intellectual, a peasant, and even a European figure.
