| What is it?

Name: Stroll of the Pacification of the Junggar by Qian Weicheng

Historical Period: In the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty

The Vertical: 41 cm, The Horizontal: 808 cm

Housed in: National Museum of China

| What's the story?

The Scroll of the Pacification of the Junggar was painted by Qian Weicheng, a Qing court painter, in the 20th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1755). With a length of eight meters, it consists of three parts: "The Hard-Fought Battle," "The Defeat of Dawachi's Troops," and "The Celebration of the Victory." Like a large-scale war documentary, it depicts the nearly 70 years of anti-separatist struggle in the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong.

Emperor Kangxi's three personal expeditions

In the early Qing Dynasty (1616–1911), Mongolia was divided into three regions in the western, southern and northern parts of the desert. The tribes in the southern region pledged allegiance to the Qing government, and the tribes in the northern region maintained friendly relations with the Qing government. There were four tribes in the western region, namely the Junggar, the Khoshut, the Dorbet and the Torgut. They paid tribute to the Qing court.

Later, Galdan seized the power of the Junggar and began to expand. After conquering the Khoshut and the Qazaq, the Junggar dominated the western region. In alliance with Tsarist Russia, Galdan expanded eastward, invading the Khalkha in the northern region and the tribes in the southern Mongolia.

In the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1690), Galdan once again invaded the Khalkha. Emperor Kangxi decided to go on a personal expedition and eventually defeated Galdan in the Battle of Ulan Butung. In the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1695), Galdan led 30,000 cavalrymen and moved eastward. Kangxi personally directed the Battle of Jao Modo, and the Qing troops routed Galdan's army, who "just fled with a few cavalrymen." In the third personal expedition of Kangxi, Galdan, abandoned by all his followers, took his own life.

Emperor Yongzheng's four expeditions

After the death of Kangxi, Yongzheng continued to fight against Junggar separatist forces. In the winter of the 5th year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign (1727), Galdan Tseren succeeded to the throne following the death of his father. With the support of Tsarist Russian, Galdan Tseren persisted in his insurrection. To surpass the insurrection of Galdan Tseren, Yongzheng launched four military expeditions to the west.

In the 9th year of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1731), the Qing troops wiped out the Junggar opponents in the Battle of Khton-nor.

Emperor Qianlong's two victorious expeditions

In the 10th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1745), the death of Galdan Tseren plunged the Junggar into a fierce power struggle. Tsarist Russia attempted to establish a puppet regime. In the 20th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1755), the Qing troops launched a two-pronged attack and pulverized Dawachi's troops. In the 22nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1757), Qianlong dispatched troops once more for a western expedition.

The Qing Dynasty's pacification of the Junggar further stabilized and consolidated its territory. Although the Junggar tried to secede this vast piece of land, they failed in the end. Emperor Qianlong thereby named the territory as “Xinjiang,” signifying "old territory newly returned to the motherland." Qing Dynasty became a unified multi-ethnic country.

Source: Becoming the Chinese Nation: The historical memories of multi-ethnic Chinese Nation in 100 cultural relics

Liu Xian /Editor    Chi Jianfeng /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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