Rulers of art

At the exhibition's entrance stand the official portraits of the three monarchs in their majestic royal attires. They received a multicultural education from early childhood, encompassing the Manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan ethnic traditions. They valued self-cultivation and the cultivation of their offspring through excellence in the Confucian classics, poetry, and Chinese painting and calligraphy. Education deeply influenced not only their administrative governance and military strategies but also their cultural acumen, leading to a prestigious imperial art collection.

Their calligraphy reflects an important dimension of systematic, rigorous training throughout the years, according to Zhao Ziru, the exhibition's curator. She says that by copying these great works housed in the court, the three excelled in calligraphy and assimilated the strengths of ancient masters from various schools.

People often talk with great relish about Yongzheng's tactful victory in a fierce battle for succession to the throne; little do they know that he is recognized as one of the most accomplished emperor-calligraphers. Several of his handwritten pieces are on show, including a self-composed poem, Summer Boating. His models include the "two Wangs", Wang Xizhi and his son Xianzhi, two eminent calligraphers of the fourth century, and Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), while his rhythmic strokes generate an energetic flow on paper, exposing the emperor's utmost reverence for Dong Qichang (1555-1636).