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Father Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He proved to the court of Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than Chinese astronomy.<br/><br/> He then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory, being given the role of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.<br/><br/> Verbiest was the only Westerner in Chinese history to ever receive the honour of a posthumous name by the Emperor. He is buried in Beijing.
The Empress Xiaozhuang (March 28, 1613 - January 27, 1688), known for most of her life by the title 'Grand Empress Dowager', was the concubine of Emperor Huang Taiji, the mother of the Shunzhi Emperor and the grandmother of the Kangxi Emperor during the Qing Dynasty in China. She wielded significant influence over the Qing court during the rule of her son and grandson. Known for her wisdom and political ability, Xiaozhuang has become a largely respected figure in Chinese history, strictly in contrast to the despotic reputation of Empress Dowager Cixi. Empress Xiao Zhuang Wen was a daughter of a prince of Borjigit clan of the Khorchin Mongols, Prince Jaisang, and thus was a descendant of Genghis Khan's younger brother Jochi Khasar. Her given name was Bumbutai.
Father Ferdinand Verbiest (9 October 1623 – 28 January 1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in Flanders, later part of the modern state of Belgium. He was known as Nan Huairen (南懷仁) in Chinese.<br/><br/> He was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer and proved to the court of the Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than Chinese astronomy. He then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory, being given the role of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.<br/><br/> He became close friends with the Kangxi Emperor, who frequently requested his teaching, in geometry, philosophy and music. Verbiest worked as a diplomat and cartographer, and also as a translator, because he spoke Latin, German, Dutch, Spanish, Hebrew, and Italian. He wrote more than thirty books.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
"A caricature on Lord Macartney's Embassy to China and on the little which the Ambassador and his government are presumed to have known of the manners and tastes of the people they wanted to conciliate (the purpose of the visit was to propose the creation of a permanent English mission to the court of Peking). Chinese etiquette is, that extreme prostrations should be made before the Emperor, which it was intimated Lord Macartney would not conform to. The whole contour of the Emperor is indicative of cunning and contempt and his indifference to the numerous gifts displaying the skill of British manufacturing, is evident. As soon as Lord Macartney had declined to make the required prostrations, only going down on one knee, he was dismissed from the presence of the Emperor. He was later ordered to quit Peking within two days and was given a letter addressed to George III wherein the Emperor states that,'As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures'. An attache, Aeneas Anderson, later recalled that "we entered Pekin like Paupers, remained in it like Prisoners and departed from it like Vagrants".
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
Scenes of Service from a small album known as 'Chinese Drawings: Court and Society', showing contemporaneous style and fashion at the Qing Court.<br/><br/> The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Qing rulers were of the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a nomadic tribe that originated northeast of the Great Wall in contemporary Northeastern China.<br/><br/> Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture, learning Chinese and participating in rituals. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones.
The Empress Xiaozhuang, (pinyin: Xiàozhuāngwén Huánghòu; Manchu: Hiyoošungga Ambalinggū Genggiyenšu Hūwanghu; March 28, 1613 - January 27, 1688), known for the majority of her life under the title 'Grand Empress Dowager', was the concubine of Emperor Huang Taiji, the mother of the Shunzhi Emperor and the grandmother of the Kangxi Emperor during the Qing Dynasty in China. She wielded significant influence over the Qing court during the rule of her son and grandson. Known for her wisdom and political ability, Xiaozhuang has become a largely respected figure in Chinese history, strictly in contrast to the despotic reputation of Empress Dowager Cixi.<br/><br/> Empress Xiao Zhuang Wen was a daughter of a prince of Borjigit clan of the Khorchin Mongols, Prince Jaisang, and thus was a descendant of Genghis Khan's younger brother Jochi Khasar. Her given name was Bumbutai.
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1736 to 7 February 1795.<br/><br/> On 8 February, he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor. Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799.<br/><br/> Although his early years saw the continuity of an era of prosperity in China, he held an unrelentingly conservative attitude. As a result, the Qing Dynasty's comparative decline began later in his reign.
The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was a British embassy to China in 1793. The Mission ran from 1792–94. It is named for the first envoy of Great Britain to China, George Macartney, who led the endeavour. The goal of the embassy was to convince Emperor Qianlong of China to ease restrictions on trade between Great Britain and China by allowing Great Britain to have a permanent embassy in Beijing, possession of 'a small unfortified island near Chusan for the residence of British traders, storage of goods, and outfitting of ships', and reduced tariffs on traders in Guangzhou.<br/><br/> The embassy was ultimately not successful. This was not due to Macartney's refusal to kowtow in the presence of the Qianlong Emperor, as is commonly believed. It was also not a result of the Chinese reliance on tradition in dictating foreign policy but rather a result of competing world views which were uncomprehending and incompatible.