Emperor Qianlong's southern belle

"The deeply disappointed emperor, who watched the show with his son the future emperor, even left poems expressing his sadness," Le says.

By that time it may have been too early for the powerful emperor to sense any real crisis. But if he did, he was proven right, again. The empire after his death was shaken by internal revolts. Pressure from the outside was also mounting: the door of the empire, after being kept closed since the 14th century, was about to be pounded open by Western powers.

Today the emperor is often blamed for his vanity and extravagant lifestyle as partly evidenced by the royal journeys he made, a charge he would no doubt have countered vociferously, given the chance.

"People talked about these journeys, imagining up all the romances that could have happened, without ever mentioning the royal duties he performed," Le says.

"Over history, especially over the past 30 years as popular period dramas on television have become a major channel for young people to become acquainted with historic figures, Qianlong has emerged, from time to time, as a hedonist and a lady killer.

"This exhibition is about to put that right."

However, this does not mean the six journeys, on top of others Qianlong made to other parts of his empire, should be immune from any criticism. As self-satisfactory as Qianlong (In his twilight years, he ordered a carving of jade seal to commemorate his 10 major military triumphs, a seal on view at the exhibition), the emperor looked back at his "life's journeys" in a candid and reflective tone. The words are kept in Qing official documents.

"I have been emperor for a whole 60 years, with few blemishes except for the six journeys to the south," he said, talking to Wu Xiongguang, a confidant.

"They depleted the royal coffers, leaving a burden upon my people. If any future emperor would like to go on similar trips, you must try to stop him. If you don't, you had better not face me in the afterlife."

zhaoxu@chinadaily.com.cn