The Manchu Influence on Buddhist Art and Iconography during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912)

Abstract

This study explores the cultural and academic implications of Manchu influence on Buddhist art during the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912. A period marked by intercultural exchange with a major influence on the art and iconography of the dynasty. This work has highlighted the role of art in mediating the relationship between the Manchu rulers and their subjects through the clear lens of cultural diplomacy and identity construction in Qing China. It is in the socio-political dimension of each ethnic group where Buddhist art should be sought and used to claim power. The study relies on cultural hybridity and postcolonialism theories to discuss how the Manchu elements yielded peculiar forms of Buddhist art. Postcolonial theory interrogates how these cultural practices were used to validate the Manchu political order and promote cohesion among cultural systems. Together, these frameworks look at the impacts of Manchu in Qing Dynasty Buddhist art and iconography. A qualitative method from a wide range of primary and secondary sources, such as Buddhist paintings, and research studies indicates that Buddhist art was used by the Manchu rulers as an authorization for syncretizing the manifold cultural traditions and the new ruling elite. The findings of the study show aesthetics combined with artful elements of the Manchu and Han Chinese, which supported religious and political aims and showed Manchu’s influence on art. Future research should search for the effect that technological progress leaves on both the production and distribution of art.