Emperor Manjushri in the context of Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)

⭐ Core Definition: Emperor Manjushri

The Emperor Manjushri or Great Emperor Manjushri (Tibetan: འཇམ་དབྱངས་གོང་མ་ཆེན་པོ, Wylie: ajam dbyangs gong ma chen po; Chinese: 文殊皇帝; pinyin: Wénshū Huángdì; Manchu: ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠᠰᡳᡵᡳ
ᡥᠠᠨ, Mölendorff: Manjusiri han or Chinese: 文殊大皇帝/曼殊師利大皇帝) was an honorific title in Tibetan Buddhism given to emperors of China's Qing dynasty, notably the Qianlong Emperor.

Kublai Khan, founder of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, had been regarded by the Tibetan Buddhists as a reincarnation of Manjushri. The Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty promoted the idea that he too was the earthly manifestation of Manjushri and styled himself the wheel-turning king. The emperors of the Qing dynasty further portrayed themselves as the incarnation of Manjushri and the wheel-turning king who brings peace to the world. The title (文殊菩薩皇帝 or 文殊大皇帝) was commonly used by the Tibetans as the opening words when addressing to the Qing court during the Shunzhi period, and the Manchus referred to the Qing emperors as "Old Buddha" (佛爺).

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Emperor Manjushri in the context of Qianlong

The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned officially from 1735 until his abdication and retired in 1796, but retained ultimate power subsequently until his death in 1799, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history as well as one of the longest-lived.

The fourth and favourite son of the Yongzheng Emperor, Qianlong ascended the throne in 1735. A highly ambitious military leader, he led a series of campaigns into Inner Asia, Burma, Nepal and Vietnam and suppressed rebellions in Jinchuan and Taiwan. The most significant of his campaigns were directed against the Dzungars, bringing Xinjiang under Qing rule. During his lifetime, he was given the deified title Emperor Manjushri by the Qing's Tibetan subjects. Domestically, Qianlong was a major patron of the arts as well as a prolific writer. He sponsored the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), the largest collection ever made of Chinese history, while also overseeing extensive literary inquisitions that led to the suppression of some 3,100 works.

View the full Wikipedia page for Qianlong

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