Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay
What Emperor Qianlong did with his court painters is the 18th century equivalent of digital photo manipulation and Photoshop
The Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne.
Long before Cixi (1835–1908), the Qing dynasty’s emperors Yongzheng (1678–1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711–1799), indulged in role-playing, as evidenced in numerous paintings.
Yongzheng, whose reign lasted 13 years, was known as a strict and relentless workaholic. Thus, the contrast of his playful side revealed in the role-playing paintings often surprised many.
He left behind two albums titled The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, each featuring paintings of him portraying various characters, including a Taoist priest, a Buddhist lama, a Han intellectual, a peasant, and even a European figure.
