The Grandeur of the Qing | Asia for Educators

II. Lesson Plans

How to Read a Chinese Hand Scroll:
the Kangxi Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour

Christine Naitove, The Chapin School, New York, New York

Introduction

Guiding Questions

Why did the Kangxi Emperor commission these scrolls?

What techniques did the scroll painters employ to depict long stretches of space and time in a single artwork?

What elements of traditional Chinese landscape painting from earlier centuries were utilized in these 17th C. scrolls?