On August 28th, 2026, Dr. Xin Luo, Professor of History at Peking University, Visiting Scholar of the Department of Central Eurasian Studies and the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, presented a lecture on "The Kangxi Emperor’s Literary Festivals Inspired by a Tribute Lion". As part of a chapter in his forthcoming book, he emphasized that the Kangxi Emperor used a lion presented from the King of Portugal to him as both a political symbol and a literary catalyst that deserves closer scholarly attention.
Professor Luo began by introducing Ji Yun’s Notes from the Yuewei Cottage (閱微草堂筆記), which records the presentation of this tribute lion. Although Ji Yun’s account is vivid, depicting the ferocious roar and imposing presence of the lion, Dr. Luo pointed out discrepancies between the text and historical facts, suggesting that memory and reality often fail to align.
Subsequently, Professor Luo briefly outlined the background and course of the two diplomatic missions sent by Portugal to the Qing Dynasty during the era of maritime restrictions. Following the fruitless return of the first mission and the death of the first ambassador, Manuel de Saldanha, in Huai'an, the second ambassador, Bento Pereira de Faria, requested that the King of Portugal procure two lions from Mozambique; these were transported via Goa, India, to Macau, where the ambassador stayed for nearly two years before successfully traveling to the capital.
Professor Luo then discussed the Special Imperial Examination for Erudition and Eloquence (博學宏辭科) instituted by the Kangxi Emperor in the eighteenth year of his reign; this coincided with the preparations for and the actual holding of the examination (specifically, around the eighth month of the seventeenth year), when the Portuguese envoy arrived in Beijing to present the lion as tribute. Literati of the time hailed this tribute lion as an auspicious omen signifying the dynasty’s "benevolent influence spreading far and wide and nations from all quarters coming to pay homage." They composed poems linking the lion to the grand imperial examination: an event intended to revitalize the nation's literary culture. The co-opting of Han scholars through the Special Imperial Examination for Erudition and Eloquence and the boosting of imperial prestige through the tribute lion converged to create a unique political and literary spectacle orchestrated by the Kangxi Emperor. After the lion died of illness, the Emperor erected a stele in its honor and once again commissioned a group of scholars to compose poems and rhapsodies. Although the creative output surrounding these two political-literary events was prolific, it is intriguing to note that only a single work correctly identified Portugal as the lion's place of origin.
Finally, Professor Luo finished his lecture by echoing his brief discussion on Ji Yun's story: although there was only one real lion, the related literary works are multiple, while the multiple works told the same topic.
The lecture’s discussion and Q&A covered a range of topics including: multiple language sources on the specific topic (including Han Chinese, Manchurian, Mongolian, etc.); similar tribute events in different dynasties and different tribute events in the same dynasty; the connection linking East Asian China with Central Eurasia from the angle of tribute; and the special mechanism of the tribute system.
The IAUNRC was pleased to have welcomed Professor Luo and looks forward to future collaborations.
Here is the link to the recording: