The emperors in question in the exhibition China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795 (at the Royal Academy until next April) are Kangxi (ruled 1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95). The hard-to-pronounce imperial names were avoided in the exhibition's title, but the show has a Chinese title which is prominently displayed in the publicity material. Sheng shi hua zhang is a sonorous and vaguely archaic-sounding phrase which means something like 'Splendours of an Age of Prosperity', apt for the Qing era when the Chinese emperors ruled the largest and most populous empire on the globe. It is also a term with contemporary resonances, widely used to describe such phenomena as a new motorway bridge over the Yangtze River, or swanky golfing parties in Shanghai hotels. It was the title of a dance festival, compered by People's Liberation Army choreographers, 'offered' to the Communist Party in celebration of its 80th anniversary in 2001.

LRB 1 December 2005 | PDF Download