"Entrusted as such by the Heavens, the Emperor hereby proclaims...." For people like us, living in an age and place of democracy, it might be somewhat difficult to grasp the overwhelming and absolute personal authority of the Chinese emperor from this phrase, which almost appears like a stage line from some costume drama of the past. However, it is actual phrase from the annals of history and fully expresses the essential quality of an imperial form of government. It also reminds us that the emperor was considered endowed with the power of authority from the heavens, following the will of its mandate to take responsibility for governing among and for the people on its behalf. The emperor, as the Son of Heaven receiving the mandate to rule, was the unquestioned and supreme leader of all the land, so he came to assume an aura of ultimate loftiness and mystery within the high walls of the palaces built for him. This is why, becoming so remote and unfathomable, he was likened to the spirit dragon, roaming the skies and seas of its domain, but never appearing in full or for very long.

      The days of the emperors, however, have long since faded from memory and been glossed over. Nowadays, the trend in historical research is to take a pluralistic and objective view as much as possible to observe, analyze, and evaluate emperors throughout the dynasties. Consequently, the Son of Heaven has been increasingly pulled back to the mortal world and seen as the actual person he was, so even trifling matters of his everyday existence have been returned to his life. In doing so, the sacred has been reduced so that more of the human side can appear before one's eyes. This is probably exactly the reason why so many people consider dramas of the imperial court as more interesting than the contents of history books.

      The main characters of this exhibition, "The First Family Under the Heavens: Imperial Art and Artifacts of the Ch'ing Dynasty", are the members of the Ch'ing (1644-1911) imperial clan familiar to many. From the view of expressing concern for their human side while also using critical methods to observe various details, these concrete examples of images, objects, and archival materials from the collection of court objects at the National Palace Museum fully open three distinct windows onto the life of the imperial clan--family, public, and leisure. Thus, this exhibit allows viewers to easily and personally look back and understand the multi-faceted lives of these imperial figures in the Forbidden City from the old days of the Ch'ing dynasty.