In the wake of military victory, Qianlong turns inward—launching literary purges, rewriting history, and curating an image of himself as the enlightened ruler of a Confucian empire. Through censorship, spectacle, and the manipulation of memory, the Qing court fights a new kind of war: one for cultural supremacy and imperial legitimacy.

Time Period Covered:

~ 1735–1760 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Qianlong Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735-1796]

Grand Secretary No'chin [d. 1749]

Historican Wei Yuan [1794-1857]

Major Works Cited:

Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia.

Qian, Zhongshu – Tán Yì Lù, "On the Art of Poetry."

Qianlong Emperor. The Siku Quanshu (四库全书) - Qing Imperial Encyclopedia.

Woodside, Alexander. Lost Modernities: China, Vietnam, Korea, and the Hazards of World History.

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