南巡

November 6, 2007 10:46 AM

Recording the grandeur of the Qing [Flash; browser re-sizing; Flash-free topic index] Gorgeous and rich resource introducing multiple facets of Qing history via a study of the spectacular painted scrolls that recorded Kangxi and Qianlong's inspection tours through the south of their Empire.
posted by Abiezer (18 comments total)

This is a cool site--but it seems like 1911AxeGrindFilter. The Qing state was "fair"? Yeah, if you were a foreign merchant, a bureaucrat, or a local grandee. For peasants, not so much.
posted by nasreddin at 10:56 AM on November 6, 2007

Au contraire, nasreddin - it had one of the lowest GINI indexes of any recorded state up to the modern period and access to impartial justice was far more likely than almost anywhere else. I will defend the glory of the Manchu empire! Never trust what the Han chauvinist bigots write at a later date to justify their depradations. :p
posted by Abiezer at 11:04 AM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Obviously, all those peasant rebels were just uppity and divorced from the mighty de emanating from the Dragon Throne
posted by Abiezer at 11:08 AM on November 6, 2007

If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me who is this GINI, and how many wishes he grants? Thanx.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:12 AM on November 6, 2007

how many wishes he grants?

As many as you want, as long as you can afford the bottle.
posted by nasreddin at 11:18 AM on November 6, 2007

Google GINI to get the Wikipedia page which has way more information than you want and also a neat graph that proves once and for all how false Republican talking points about socialism in America are.
posted by DU at 11:28 AM on November 6, 2007

Heavenly visuals! what a treat. Thanks Abiezer.

What is the heading of this post? My browser says only "??", curious what Chinese letters are up there.

Interesting how mingling the church and state/rich and powerful art patron art thing was similar in the East as it was in the West at that time. Here Vittoria della Rovere as Santa Margherita.

Wonderful to learn about Qing history so beautifully.
posted by nickyskye at 11:39 AM on November 6, 2007

i've seen these scrolls (or, well, some of them) in person and they are amazing...
posted by sexyrobot at 11:49 AM on November 6, 2007

Gah, sorry nicky - that was the characters for nanxun, Chinese for "Southern tour." It is a historical term for these Imperial jaunts, famously revived in the early 1990s when Deng Xiaoping performed a similar exercise to reboot the faltering "reform-opening-process" post-Tiananmen. Used because I couldn't remember some nice pithy poetry quite.
posted by Abiezer at 11:52 AM on November 6, 2007

Or spell quote. Nor add "and" to "reform-and-opening."
posted by Abiezer at 11:53 AM on November 6, 2007

So cool, that interesting additional information, thanks again Abiezer. Love and admire your knowledge of China.
posted by nickyskye at 12:55 PM on November 6, 2007

Wandering through these scrolls with the navigation tool set on full magnification makes me think that this, finally, is why the internets were invented.

It also makes me think "Is that Chow Yun Fat?"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:26 PM on November 6, 2007

This is great. Thanks, Abiezer!
posted by homunculus at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2007

Man, this takes me back to the game Qin which I loved. Yeah OK, I suck.
posted by Eekacat at 5:25 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

my faves from the period have to be the porcelain...not that export crap...the real stuff...simple, elegant, bold glazes...saw this one bowl in the chicago art institute...a simple small dish similar to a miso soup bowl...cross-section like a hyperbola with a razor-thin edge...the inside was white and incredibly translucent, yet the outside was a bright yellow and totally opaque! i actually found myself in tears...
posted by sexyrobot at 6:52 PM on November 6, 2007

Love your posts, Abiezer - if I ever get to Beijing I'll buy you a beer!
posted by Quietgal at 7:42 PM on November 6, 2007

Aw shucks, Quietgal. I post for the sheer joy of participation, but am most amenable to the idea of doing it for beer instead!
posted by Abiezer at 7:47 PM on November 6, 2007

'Twould be an honor to embeerify the author of my favorite limerick. Sweet and proper, even.
posted by Quietgal at 8:20 PM on November 6, 2007