Ascendant Peace in the Four Seas: Tributary Drama and the Macartney Mission of 1793

Apart from entertainment, the Qing court used drama extensively for ritual and political purposes. From Qianlong on, drama became an indispensable part of palace ritual. Among the five imperial rites, jili (auspicious rites), jiali (felicitous rites), junli (martial rites), binli (protocol rites), and xiongli (inauspicious rites), only the last, which dealt with funerals and disasters, did not involve the performance of ritual drama.²

Auspicious rites were state sacrifices offered in the suburban altars and the ancestral temple, in which emperors offered sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, ancestors and the pantheon of deities. Felicitous rites included celebrations of festivals, birthdays, marriages, and the confirmation of imperial titles. Martial rites included dramas celebrating military victories or hunting excursions, and protocol rites referred to the special dramas performed in the presence of foreign visitors.³ In the latter case, the audience was often entertained with colorful and lavish performances on the theme of foreign delegations paying tribute to the might of the Chinese emperor.

This paper concentrates on tributary drama, especially the drama commissioned and performed on the occasion of Lord Macartney's mission to the Qianlong emperor in 1793, the first diplomatic contact between Great Britain and China. Historians continue to argue about the details and significance of court ritual connected with this mission.⁴ The discovery of the original script of this drama sheds light on how the Qing court saw this mission, and gives us a rare insight into Qianlong's well-guarded personality.

Tributary drama and its origins

The most important celebrations in the palace were "the three grand festivals"—the Winter Solstice, New Year's Day, and the Emperor's Birthday. The significance of the latter two is obvious. The winter solstice is the day yang begins to rise and "the way of the ruler correspondingly lengthens, so that he is thereby congratulated."⁵

Foreign delegations usually presented their tribute during the period of one of the three grand festivals. Dramas associated with those festivals continued as long as five or six hours. Celebrations started at 5:00 AM and continued until the mid afternoon. The drama performances usually started at 6:00 AM, beginning with ritual drama and followed by drama of a more entertaining nature. By the time of Xianfeng and beyond, these ceremonies were often delayed by up to an hour.⁶ The precise time of the performance of each drama was indicated on the program, so that the emperor could choose a particular time to attend. Some ritual dramas performed during banquets were much shorter, lasting only about 15 minutes, and often two such dramas were performed. Banquet dramas were usually performed during breakfast and the midday meal.⁷

There were two main themes in such performances. In one, various spirits, bodhisattvas, or historical figures were shown offering their congratulations to the Son of Heaven. The other depicted barbarian emissaries, awestruck at the power and might of the Middle Kingdom, travelling thousands of li to present their tribute to the Court.

Foreign barbarians presenting tribute were treated according to the principles of binli (guest protocol). According to the Zhouli, this term originally applied to visits of the feudal lords to the Son of Heaven,⁸ but, by the Tang, binli referred to the ceremonies and protocols pertaining to the way the emperor entertained the monarchs and ambassadors of the si yi—the "barbarians from the four quarters." The Ming applied these principles not only to barbarians, but to Chinese officials as well, and this practice was continued by the Qing. These protocols applied to foreign ambassadors, barbarian kings and rulers, and Chinese officials on visits to the capital. During the Qing, when tributary delegations were received in audience by the emperor, the ceremonial music played was zhi ping zhi zhang (suite to control and pacificy). For Qing officials, the prescribed music was qing ping zhi zhang (suite to celebrate the peace).⁹

During the official banquet, the music, dance, or other entertainment of the tributary states was performed.¹⁰ This was to demonstrate the extent to which Chinese power...