Prof. Ge Zhaoguang will give a lecture at Harvard Fairbank Center, entitling "A Vietnamese King’s Homage to the Qianlong Emperor in 1790: Pictorial Documentation, Ritual Implication, and Sartorial Culture".

A Vietnamese King's Homage to the Qianlong Emperor in 1790: Pictorial Documentation, Ritual Implication, and Sartorial Culture

This lecture will be in Chinese, with English summary provided.

The Qianlong emperor celebrated his eightieth birthday in 1790. Vietnam, Korea, Ryūkyū Islands, Burma, and Mongol sent their delegates to the imperial summer resort at Chengde to pay their homage. Curiously, the Vietnamese king who had just defeated the Qing army offered to appear in Qing costume and kowtow to the Qing emperor. The unusual act pleased the Qianlong emperor and infuriated the Korean and Ryūkyū delegates. What did the costume and ceremonial manner mean in the context of the East Asia political and cultural order? Why did the British embassy to China led by Lord Macartney three years later cause friction with regards to the sartorial and ceremonial manners? Professor Ge’s lecture will address these questions.

Co-sponsored by the Fairbank Center, Rockefeller Fund for East Asian Art of the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Date: Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 4:30pm.
Location: CGIS South, Belfer Case Study Room (S020), 1730 Cambridge St.