Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay
The Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne. Long before Cixi (1835–1908), the Qing dynasty’s emperors Yongzheng (1678–1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711–1799), indulged in…
We haven't written up this one. South China Morning Post has the full story — the link below goes straight to it.