In this mammoth scroll, we see the Kangxi Emperor and his entourage making their way through the mountains and valleys of Xandong province. Their journey culminates at the sacred peak of the east, Mount Tai. An altar stands in front of the path leading up the mountain. A group of Buddhist and Taoist priests mingle with members of the Emperor’s retinue. As they prepare for his arrival, nearby servants sweep the ground in a last-minute effort to neaten up.

The scene is a recreation of one event from the Kangxi Emperor’s 1689 tour to south China. The country had experienced great civil unrest during the opening decades of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The emperor made this journey as a gesture toward unification.

Traditionally, Mount Tai was the place where Chinese rulers worshipped heaven and reported on the state of the empire below. Only a legitimate ruler would dare stand before heaven and perform this ceremony. Kangxi did not actually perform the ceremony. But the fact that he visited the mountain held a tremendous symbolic importance. It identified him as a ruler who aspired to govern China according to the precepts of a traditional Confucian monarch. This symbolism was not lost on his Chinese subjects.

This is one of twelve handscrolls commemorating Kangxi’s trip. Laid end to end, these scrolls would have measured some seven hundred feet—more than the length of two football fields. Kangxi chose the preeminent orthodox painter of the time, Wang Hui, to illustrate his journey. In doing so, Kangxi intended to put traditional scholarly ideals to use in the service of the court.

And indeed, this scroll evokes the golden age of landscape painting during the Tang and Sung periods. For example, Kangxi visited Mount Tai in early February. Rather than covering the landscape in snow, however, Wang Hui has painted it in blue and green mineral pigments. This not only imitated a classical style of landscape painting, but it also conveyed the suggestion that Kangxi’s reign would revive a golden age of rulership. Wang Hui’s painting by employing a style derived from high antiquity enhances the aura of majesty and importance surrounding Kangxi’s tour.