Monarchy in the Emperors Eye: Image and Reality in the Ch'ien-Lung Reign

In this exploration of the monarch’s image and its makers, Harold Kahn analyzes the difference between persona and person, between the creature of the historians and the maker of history himself. Focusing on the eighteenth-century Chinese emperor, the author examines the complexity of the roles imposed on him—by precedent, ritual, education, orthodox expectation, and even fiction. The main concern, however, is with the ruler’s self-awareness, with his perceptions of and preparations for his position, and with his final institutional manipulation of the throne.