Maqang fought under the Qing Eight Banners. He was part of the elite force that consisted mostly of mounted archers. This painting covers an episode where he chased an enemy soldier. A true hero.
Between the Altai mountains and the Ili valley, there was the Dzungar Khanate, the last major nomadic empire left from the Mongol Empire. It was a confederation of Oirat Mongol tribes. The Dzungar (Dzungar literally meaning ‘left hand’) were part of the old left wing of the Mongol armies of Ghengis Khan. Since the late seventeenth century, during the reign of Kangxi (ruler of the Manchu Empire of the Qing) the expanding Dzungar Khanate competed for territory with Kangxi as well as with their Khalka Mongol allies. Kangxi defeated them. Later, during the rule of Kangxi’s grandson, Qianlong, there was a new Dzungar leader that revolted against the Qing. Qianlong ordered a large scale war to end it once and for all, and he did; destroying the Dzungar empire to the ground. Listen to the story of the hero Maqang.
Manchang durchbricht die feindlichen Linien (1759)
By Giuseppe Castiglione. Material/Technik: Tusche und Farben auf Papier
Image credit: bpk / Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jürgen Liepe