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China / Vietnam: A victory banquet held by the Qing Emperor Qianlong to greet Nguyen Quang Hien, the envoy of Nguyen Hue. Qing invasion of Vietnam, 1788-1789

China / Vietnam: A victory banquet held by the Qing Emperor Qianlong to greet Nguyen Quang Hien, the envoy of Nguyen Hue. Qing invasion of Vietnam, 1788-1789

In 1788 a large Qing army was sent south to restore Lê Mẫn Đế (Lê Chiêu Thống) to the Vietnamese throne. They succeeded in taking Thăng Long (Hà Nội, Hanoi) and putting Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống back on the throne.

This situation did not last long as the Tây Sơn leader, Nguyễn Huệ, launched an attack against the Qing forces while they were celebrating the Chinese New Year festival of the year 1789. The Chinese were completely defeated and Nguyễn Huệ was proclaimed Emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, although he also agreed to pat tribute to the Qing court to avoid further invasions.

The painting is from the 'Ten Great Campaigns' series produced by Jesuit missionaries at the Qing Court including Giuseppe Castiglione, Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignace Sichelbart and Jean Damascene. The engravings were executed in Paris under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Académie Royal at the Court of Louis XVI and the individual engravers include Le Bas, Aliamet, Prevot, Saint-Aubin, Masquelier, Choffard, and Launay.

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