Palace Museum opens an ongoing exhibition, themed on “Joyful Leisure: Calligraphy and Paintings by the Emperor Qianlong and His Court Officials”. Emperor Qianlong reigned from 1736 to 1795 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The exhibition is held at the Hall of Literary Glory (Wenhua Dian).
Over 100 of the finest works by Emperor Qianlong, his close courtiers and other members of the royal family are showed to visitors. More than half of the works have never been displayed to the public before. The exhibition will last until June 30th.
Qianlong's lifelong affection for art had a powerful influence over the entire imperial court during his reign. According to the researchers from the Palace Museum, more than 28,000 handwritten poems penned by the emperor have been discovered.
Emperor Qianlong achieved greatly in the fields of landscape painting, birds and flowers, as well as the development of figure painting. The emperor also maintained the practice of reproducing model calligraphy and guided court calligraphers in their practice and large-scale development of this art.