Scenic Sites in the Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These four tapestry hangings (13.220.134–.137) may be from a larger group depicting the scenic sites that the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736–95) visited during his historic tours south of the capital. The inscriptions identify these four places as Forest of Springs (Quanlin), Pool of the Ancient School (Panchi), Guangyue Tower (Guangyuelou), and Wuwei Monastery (Wuweiguan), all now in Shandong Province. Aside from Guangyue Tower, the buildings at the other three sites have been destroyed, though the first two are known to have housed auxiliary palaces. The images on these panels are comparable to woodblock illustrations in Nanxun Shengdian, a book published in 1770 to memorize the emperor’s tours.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art