Keywords
China, Jesuits, Qing Dynasty, Gardens, Imperial Palace
Abstract
The Gardens of Perfect Brightness, the favorite residence of Chinese Emperors in the High Qing era (1683-1799), held mysteries that will remain forever concealed from the public eye after French and British imperialist forces looted it and burned it beyond repair during the Second Opium War (1856-1860). Behind the doors of the secret garden, scarcely open to anyone but the emperor, his wives, and servants, worked European artists and scientists. Most of them were Jesuit missionaries who served the emperor in the hope of gaining his favor and support for the spread of Christianity in China.
This paper aims to explain the paradox that arose when the Qianlong Emperor (r.1735-1796), otherwise critical of the Christian faith and of foreigners in general, ordered Jesuits to undertake the grandest project a Qing Emperor ever entrusted to Europeans: building European-style gardens and palaces in the Gardens of Perfect Brightness. With reference to English, French, and Chinese-language sources, this paper argues that the construction of Western Palaces was made possible by extraordinary circumstances, which comprised the emperor’s secret appeal for European art and his unexpected trust in the Jesuit missionaries’ ability to meet his expectations.
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Recommended Citation
Woreth, Nicolas (2026) "Western Mansions in the Gardens of Perfect Brightness, Another History of High Qing Sino-European exchanges," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 7 (1), 67-90. 10.24968/2693-244X.7.1.3 https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol7/iss1/3
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