Within their historical context in an exhibition at Freer | Sackler, the empresses of China’s Qing Dynasty succeeded in making meaningful lives for themselves, and that is something to celebrate and admire.
Qing Dynasty
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The Material Legacy of Matrilineal Power in China’s Qing Dynasty
Many of the objects in Empresses of China’s Forbidden City, 1644-1912 at Freer | Sackler have not previously been available for research, have never traveled outside of China, and might not be likely to reemerge again.
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Power and Beauty in China as Seen Through the Designs of Robert Wilson
Sensory pleasure inspires this exhibition design, treating the last imperial dynasty of China as a feast instead of a major art movement.
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A British Photographer in 19th-Century Peking
In 1870, 29-year-old British photographer Thomas Child moved to Peking — as Beijing was formerly known — to work as a gas engineer for the Imperial Maritime Customs Service.
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Fantasy and Utopia in the Metropolitan Museum’s Chinese Fashion Show
China was, and will always be, in its heart of hearts, an empire — whether it is royal, revolutionary, or techno-bureaucratic-communist-cum-capitalist.