Tibet as told by the early Qing Emperors

In-person talk – Seating is limited. Masks are required for all audience members.

How did the official narrative about the Qing-Tibetan relationship come into being? This talk focuses on the different narratives told in public by three successive emperors of the Qing dynasty, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. By focusing on the three central concepts in these narratives, i.e., “advancing the Gelugpa Teaching (興黃教/ doro šajin be badarambumbi/ bstan srid dar bar byed),” “the Great Patron (大施主/amba ūklige ejen/ sbyin bdag chen po),” and “the Great Emperor (大皇帝/amba ejen han/gong ma chen po),” I will explain how these three historical narratives were developed in their own contexts and how they served the early Qing emperors to establish a new narrative about Tibet area that was accepted by the Gelug pa tradition.