Page 172 - A Re-examination of Late Qing Dynasty Porcelain, 1850-1920 THESIS

China. It is pertinent to connect these two rulers because it is clear that other Chinese

emperors worked to connect themselves to previous reigns. The connection from one

ruler to the past established that individual’s imperial rule and paid respect to traditional

Confucian beliefs.

In 1796, Qianlong abdicated the throne. Scholars generally agree that imperial

collecting in China declined at this point. The Forbidden City experienced several fires

prior to 1860 that resulted in the loss of paintings and books. Since no inventories

survive that document the imperial collection prior to this point in history, the amount of

loss resulting from events like fires cannot be established. Along with this damage, large

th
quantities of looting and pillaging occurred in the late 19 century. The most notable of

these events include the 1860 fall of the Yuanmingyuan followed by the later Boxer

uprising of 1900 in Beijing. In these instances, both French and British troops removed

numerous art pieces as profits of war. These objects traveled back to Britain and France,

with many becoming parts of the collections of the British Museum in London and the

Museé Guimet in Paris. 217 As a direct result, portions of the imperial collection that

Qianlong most likely commissioned were removed from China and taken directly to the

West. The movement of wares to the West has caused institutions and collectors from

this region to accumulate collections worthy of intensive study.

Ultimately, scholars cannot track with complete accuracy the works collected by

Qianlong. Over the years, parts of the imperial collection were lost, sold, and moved to

new locations that have been partly addressed within this chapter. When the Qing

dynasty fell in 1911, the imperial collection remained within the Forbidden City. The last

217 Elliot and Shambaugh, 55.

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