Lecture: Emperor Qianlong’s Hidden Treasures

Description

Organised by the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, the Emperor Qianlong’s Hidden Treasures lecture explores new perspectives on the imperial collection. Drawing on her research, Nicole Chiang challenges the long-held view of the collection as a display of imperial power, highlighting instead how selected objects were often removed from public view. She reconsiders how the collection was defined, formed and used — proposing it as a collaborative effort involving multiple specialists rather than a purely personal project of the emperor, and argues that its primary function was to gather and organise knowledge essential to governance.

Chiang is a curator at the Hong Kong Palace Museum and author of Emperor Qianlong’s Hidden Treasure: Reconsidering the Collection of the Qing Imperial Household. She previously held roles at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath. Her research interests include Qing imperial art and the history and theories of collecting.

On 19 May, registration begins at 18:30, followed by the lecture at 19:00 and dinner at 20:00. Business smart attire is required (no denim, sportswear or flip-flops).

Photo credit: Detail from hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper, The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings by Giuseppe Castiglione and Ding Guanpeng, 1746–circa 1750, The Palace Museum, Beijing