Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay
The Qing dynastyโs Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne. Long before Cixi (1835โ1908), the Qing dynastyโs emperors Yongzheng (1678โ1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711โ1799), indulged in role-playing, as evidenced in numerous paintings. Yongzheng, whose reign lasted 13 years, was known as a strict...