Keyi Su
The Ideal Scene of Prosperity
As the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty(1644-1912) successfully unified different ethnic groups and promoted the development of agriculture and commerce. Population growth and a large number of business groups emerged in cities. Such prosperity can be seen from the crowded streets and various commercial activities from all social classes across rural and urban landscapes in the “Qing Court Version” of the Qingming Shanghe tu scroll. However, “economic and demographic expansion in the eighteenth century exacerbated the problems of administrative control.”(Tuan-Hwee Sng, 2014, p108) This essay touches upon aspects of the scroll that, through their absence, reveal some of the social complexities of the Qing period.
To begin with, “the city walls, one of the most important construction features of ancient Chinese cities, had the original purpose of enemy defense, playing an important role in maintaining urban safety and prolonging urban life.”(Wang, et al 2020, p29) And soldiers often manned the city walls in Chinese history. Take the Great Wall which was originally built during the Ming dynasty to prevent invasions from the nomadic tribes for instance. “The Great Wall itself was solid enough, but its successful defense relied on the soldiers who guarded it day and night. The soldiers had different jobs to do at each stage of a war.” (Kelly, 2021, p1) Soldiers were stationed or patrolled near the wall to look out for enemy movement. While they saw the enemy approach, the soldiers on beacon towers immediately lit a fire to alert the troops that the enemy was coming. Also, when the soldiers on watchtowers notice the enemy approach, “the archers on the wall would get ready with arrows to shoot the enemy soldiers from the nocks.” (Kelly, 2021, p1) However, there are neither soldiers standing on watchtowers or near the city wall nor defending weapons that appear in section 8 of the scroll. Everyone is free to enter the city and there are even stores opened near the entry of the city wall. People are immersed in a strong trade atmosphere instead of enhancing awareness of prevention. Without the military strength and defense force, the city would be easier attacked by enemies. Thus, the description of scenes near the city wall showed the weakened military strength and indifferent sense of prevention during the Qing dynasty.
In addition, even though the streets are crowded with people, female figures are barely seen, especially where commercial activities exist in the picture. In the section 9 of the scroll, female figures can be seen vaguely in the palanquin, observing the lively street scene inside. And there is a woman washing clothes by the river in section 11. The few other women who appear in the scroll are mostly in rural areas or with their children. Such scenes imply that women were not able to participate in business activities or access to stores like men. “Almost every Chinese dynasty had serious oppression of women under patriarchy—especially the strong Confucian impact.” (Chen Ya-chen. 2014. p4) Following the Confucian family model, male were the highest authority and represented the emperor’s power over society. Whereas the main role of females was to be wife and mother, depending on father or husband. Thus, the issue of gender inequality still existed under the impact of traditional concepts in the society of the Qing dynasty.
Furthermore, as the center of scroll, the bridge in section 6 is crowded with various stores and the river is full of fishing boats and cargo ships. Also, there are various vehicles such as horse-drawn carriages, donkey-drawn carriages, and palanquin on the street based on section 9 of the scroll. On the one hand, the lively scene shows the prosperity of the society. On the other hand, the chaotic streets reveal the deficiency of management during the Qing dynasty. Especially according to section 9 and 10, while a carriage troop is traveling in the middle of the road, there are kids playing around, people who carry something stopped and rest and people who carry heavy furniture on the road. There are many potential dangers on the road without the control of officers.
To sum up, the “Qing Court Version” of the Qingming Shanghe tu scroll expresses an ideal scene of prosperity in the Qing dynasty. However, as “economic expansion could aggravate corruption(Tuan-Hwee Sng, 2014, p107)”. Certain facets of the scroll reveal a lack of authority and existing social issues that characterized Qing. And the Qing dynasty actually showed signs of decline during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (r. 1735-1796) while the corruption brought by excessive prosperity left the country deprived of military power, made people live a decadent life and even the emperor ignored the lack of management in the society.
Bibliography:
Wang, C., Yang, W., Zhu, Y. et al. 2020. “Analysis of the impact of ancient city walls on urban landscape patterns by remote sensing”. Landscape Ecol Eng 17, 29–39 (2021).
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11355-020-00428-5.pdf
Chen Ya-chen. 2014. “New Modern Chinese Women and Gender Politics: The Centennial of the End of the Qing Dynasty”. Routledge, 2014.
Kelly Pang. Oct.15, 2021. “How Was the Great Wall Defended”.
https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/great-wall-defense.htm
Tuan-Hwee Sng, “Size and dynastic decline: The principal-agent problem in late imperial China, 1700–1850”. 2014.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014498314000205