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Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

Lu, F. (2026, September 23). Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3368391/artworks-reveal-chinese-rulers-and-cixi-loved-role-playing-long-modern-cosplay?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-09-23 · by Fran Lu

Quick Summary

The article reports on how Chinese rulers engaged in role-playing long before modern cosplay trends, as seen through historical artworks. Specifically, it highlights Emperor Qianlong's use of court painters to create images that are akin to digital photo manipulation today, and mentions Empress Dowager Cixi’s well-known practice of portraying herself as the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. Additionally, it notes that earlier Qing dynasty emperors, such as Yongzheng and Qianlong, also participated in this tradition by posing as various characters in paintings to showcase different aspects of their personas.
Written by AI on 2026-09-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing dynasty, who ruled from 1722 to 1735, left behind two albums titled *The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes*. These albums feature paintings where he is depicted in various roles, such as a Taoist priest, Buddhist lama, Han intellectual, peasant, and even a European figure. This reveals that Chinese rulers engaged in role-playing long before modern cosplay became popular, showcasing a playful side of Yongzheng that contrasts with his reputation as a strict workaholic emperor. His son, Emperor Qianlong, also participated in similar activities with court painters, akin to digital photo manipulation and Photoshop techniques used today.

Written for “Chinese Rulers Role Playing” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Chinese Rulers Role Playing
Other · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
7
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3417 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Fran Lu
24 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Fran Lu →

Topics

Buddhist Chinese European Han Taoist

Subjects

Cixi PERSON · 3× Buddhist NORP · 2× Qianlong GPE · 2× Yongzheng PERSON · 2× Chinese NORP · 1× European NORP · 1× Guanyin PERSON · 1× Han PERSON · 1× Taoist NORP · 1×

Narrative

He left behind two albums titled The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, each featuring paintings of him portraying various characters, including a Taoist priest, a Buddhist lama, a Han intellectual, a peasant, and even a European figure.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-23
2026-09-23 · South China Morning Post
Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 0 hedged)

Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay What Emperor Qianlong did with his court painters is the 18th century equivalent of digital photo manipulation and Photoshop asserted
did → reveal → manipulation
The Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. asserted
Cixi → renowne → Mercy
However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne. asserted
she → engage → throne
Long before Cixi (1835–1908), the Qing dynasty’s emperors Yongzheng (1678–1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711–1799), indulged in role-playing, as evidenced in numerous paintings. asserted
emperors → indulge → paintings
Yongzheng, whose reign lasted 13 years, was known as a strict and relentless workaholic. asserted
reign → last → workaholic
Thus, the contrast of his playful side revealed in the role-playing paintings often surprised many. asserted
contrast → reveal → many
He left behind two albums titled The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, each featuring paintings of him portraying various characters, including a Taoist priest, a Buddhist lama, a Han intellectual, a peasant, and even a European figure. asserted
each → leave → priest
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