He may have died over 300 years ago, but Emperor Yongzheng, the fifth ruler of China's Qing Dynasty, has a new lease on life as the Internet's latest darling. 

In an effort to make the Palace Museum in Beijing look more hip, the computer geeks in the Forbidden City blended Flash technology with traditional paintings of the emperor to create nine "cartoon" apps. Lasting only a few seconds each, the animations depict the everyday movements the real man did. The images are from an imperial series called "the Paintings of Amusement of Emperor Yongzheng."

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In one "episode,"  Yongzheng idylls by a river, before looking up at the billowing willow tree and absent-mindedly rubbing his calf with his foot. 

In another, he plays a yang qin, a kind of dulcimer, while bobbing his head to keep the beat.

And in still others, he fights a tiger, shoots a bird, fans himself on a hot day, and paints while being watched by an attentive deer.

"The general public is always saying that the palace is extensive and profound and unreachable, so we are aiming to make profound things become popular," said Li Ji, the Palace Museum's director of archeology.

He seems to have struck paydirt, Yongzheng has been heralded as "the cutest emperor" on the Internet, and the apps have made him a veritable netizen superstar. His choice was not coincidental; Yongzheng is well-known in China for his dubious reputation of working himself literally to death. The animations lighten his serious image as all-work and no-play.

Museum administrators also want to up the pop-culture coolness of the Forbidden City itself. Sprawling in the heart of Beijing over 180 acres and is composed of 980 buildings, what was the Imperial Palace of the Chinese royal family suffers from a perceived stodginess that officials want to dispel. 

Or, at least, prove that it has a sense of humor.

Shan Jixiang, Director of the Palace Museum, said, "Through creativity, we can attract more people, especially the younger generation, to get a deeper understanding of the museum, and enlighten them with wisdom." 

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