MACAO AND THE TRIBUTARIES SCROLL OF THE QIANLONG EMPEROR

[INTRODUCTION]

In August 1991, in the Imperial Palace Museum of Taibei, I had the chance to view the original of the Tributaries Scroll, painted during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r.1736-†1795). I had heard nothing but praise and admiration from my teachers at college for this magnificent work of art in the history of the Fine Arts of China but I had never had the opportunity to see this priceless work conserved by the same Emperor. This time, able to appreciate the coloured original of the painting in that museum, I began to understand its historic value and its artistic skill.

§1. CONTENT, SCALE AND DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THIS WORK

The Tributaries Scroll is a work of art accompanied by footnotes and inscriptions describing the habits, customs and dress of Chinese minorities and the peoples from foreign, Asiatic and European countries. The Tributaries Scroll is a complete picture of national minorities and foreign peoples paying tribute to the Court of the Qing dynasty. Divided into four parts with three hundred and one illustrations including six hundred and two human figures, the painting measures 64.34 metres, and it is the type of work rarely seen in the history of the Chinese Fine Arts. The first part, with seventy illustrations, shows the figures of both Oriental and Western foreigners as well as those from neighbouring kingdoms which were ruled by the Qing Empire; the second part, with sixty illustrations, describes the national minorities in the northeast of the country and the provinces of Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi; and the third part, with ninety-two illustrations, depicts national minorities from the Provinces of Gansu and Sechuan, and in the fourth, with seventy-eight illustrations, there are figures from the national minorities of Yunan and Guizhou.

Over time, the original work was moved several times and often copied or reprinted. Today there are three main versions:

1. The Tributaries Scroll, housed in the Imperial Palace Museum, in Taibei — the coloured original;

2. The Tributaries Scroll of the Qing Imperial Court — a colour hand-made copy made by the Wen Yuan Ge Library from the Complete Works of the Four Treasures compiled by Imperial Order, 1

3. The Tributaries Scroll of the Qing Imperial Court made at the Qing Court — a black and white reprint by the Wu Jing Dian Library.

Of these three versions, the finest is the Tributaries Scroll in the Imperial Palace Museum, in Taibei, because it is the original coloured work, while the other two are copies done by hand or reprinted from the original, but the way in which the parts are divided, the paintings themselves and the footnotes and inscriptions which accompany them differ from the original. The second and third versions also have omissions and mistakes made in the reproduction process. Therefore it is best to study the original version which is in the Imperial Palace Museum of Taibei, otherwise errors could be made that might lead to academic confusion.

§2. THE TRIBUTARIES SCROLL AND THE EMPEROR QIANLONG

The historical background to the creation of the Tributaries Scroll was the "prosperous reigns of Kangxi and Qianlong" which in historical terms, cover more than one-hundred years during the reigns of the Kangxi (r.1662-†1722), Yongzheng (r.1723-†1735) and Qianlong Emperors, that is, from the mid-seventeenth century to the close of the eighteenth century when the Qing feudal dynasty was at its most powerful and prosperous from the political, economic, military and cultural points of view.

With their powerful military forces these three Emperors managed to unify all the Chinese nationalities and, depending on the different conditions in each of them, adopted different forms of political and military domination: the Jun Fu system2 in the Northeast and Northwest; the 'Mengs' and 'Banners' system3 in inner and outer Mongolia; the Kashias system4 in Tibet, and Karons5 and a chain of communication posts were installed along the frontier. In this way this remarkable consolidation and development of Chinese territory led to unity, prosperity and power, as well as a merging and cultural blending of the different nationalities in the interior and those in the border regions of the country.

The Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors attached considerable importance to the wise men and the talented Western missionaries and appointed them throughout the hierarchy of Imperial staff to the Astronomical Bureau and Calendrical Section, to the offices of Ministers and even to the Court itself. The interest of the two Emperors mentioned above in Western culture eased the entry of Astronomy, Geography, Mathematics, the Fine Arts, Music, Medicine, Mechanics, Architecture and other Western achievements to China. This gave new vitality and drive to Chinese civilisation, promoting and allowing culture and the arts in China to prosper, and encouraging the Chinese people who had remained isolated for so long to view the rest of the world.

Qianlong ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five and remained Emperor for sixty-one years until he died at the age of eighty-nine, the oldest Emperor in the history of China. Throughout his full life, the wise, talented Emperor Qianlong was fully conversant with the Four Compendia6 and was well trained in the use of the guquin (an ancient stringed musical instrument), chess, calligraphy and painting. Passionately fond of the arts he was a close friend to many painters.

After ascending the throne, Qianlong recruited Chinese and foreign painters to work at the Court, paying them highly for their services and bestowing many privileges on them, thus stimulating and diversifying the creativity of painting in the Imperial Court.

The Tributaries Scroll was conceived and prepared against this historical background. On the 1st of January (according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar) of Qianlong year 16 (1751 — according to the conventional Eurpean calendar), the Emperor issued the following order:

"The supremely erudite gentleman, and Minister distinguished in loyalty and courage, Fu Heng, with all due respect, transmits the following order from His Majesty the Emperor: Our great dynasty unified the whole of national territory, the different nationalities making up the country and the different foreign countries that manifest obedience and bow to the orders of the Court. They all differ from one another in their clothing, millinery and even in their actual features. I hereby order that the Governors of the border Provinces should draw the figures, clothing and decorative ornaments of the Miao, Yao, Li, Zhuang and other Nationalities subordinate to them and foreign individuals, delivering the illustrations once completed to Jung Ji Chu7 of the Court and the latter, collecting all the illustrations, will deliver them to the Emperor, to demonstrate the grandiose panorama of those paying tribute from national minorities and foreign countries. The Governors concerned may draw and write when they are travelling on service to the border regions, without having to send people specially to deal with this matter. This order is transmitted to the locations which report to the Court. At the orders of the Emperor."8

Receiving the order from Qianlong, the Governors of the different locations immediately set to work. The Governor of the Province of Sechuan, Celeng, immediately had twenty-four illustrations prepared on the Miao, whose areas he had inspected, and on other national minorities whose representatives he had received, and to each paper he attached notes and descriptions of their clothing, habits and customs, and delivered these to Jung Ji Chu for him to submit to the Emperor. On the 30th of August (according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar), that is two months later, Celeng received "[...] two models for illustrations on national minorities and foreigners [..]", sent by Jun Ji Chu. The latter then ordered Celeng to draw the national minorities again under his jurisdiction, as well as the foreigners "[...] to deliver them to Jun Ji Chu who would then submit them to the Emperor, to demonstrate the grandiose panorama of those paying tribute."9

All of this indicates that the Tributaries Scroll was created at the orders of the Qianlong Emperor and was conducted with his personal guidance, and then organised and specifically laid out by the Minister Fu Heng and by Jun Ji Chu.

From the order given by the Emperor, received and transmitted by the Minister Fu Heng, and the report drawn up by the Governor of the Province of Sechuan, Celeng, for the Emperor, it is clear that the preparatory work for creating the Tributaries Scroll began in the sixteenth year of the reign of Qianlong, that is, in 1755. After much illustrated and written material had been collected, ten years later, that is, in the twenty sixth year of the reign of Qianlong (1760), the first sixty illustrations of the first part were concluded. In July of the same year, the Emperor Qianlong himself wrote the following poem in Manchu and Chinese as an introduction to the first part of the work:

"The shadow of the Empire benefits the four oceans,

All neighbouring countries pay tribute to the Great Qing dynasty which brings peace to the whole world.

When writing and the distance between the two wheels of the cart are also made uniform, who is there to rebel?

Apart from the difference of their boots, hats and features, all are known to one another.

The descendants of the most ancient Fang Feng nationality have come here.

It was known that the generations following those of the legendary Gan Chou and Lu Wang were already the guests of the Court.

In the silk of the Tu Shan of the Zhou Kingdom, the merits and feats of the past are recorded.

The King and the Ministers of the Shan Kingdom, who relentlessly perfected moral strength in seeking happiness, are imitated

Within the law, the aim is to administer the State, instead of returning to the past,

Wisdom does not prevent us learning from our ancestors. The Prime Minister of the Tang dynasty should be an example,

The elite of the painters of the Academy for the Fine Arts depict the great panorama.

Like the fish of the West and the birds of the East they pay homage to the celestial palace

The national minorities of the North and the South meet on the festive day.

The paintings do not aim to heap praise on the Imperial Court,

But rather to bring peace at all costs both within and outside the country."10

§3. MACAO AND THE TRIBUTARIES SCROLL

At the time, Macao was the only Chinese city open to the outside world, and therefore many of the drawings and writing materials for the first part of the Tributaries Scroll came from there. The work of creating the Tributaries Scroll began in the sixteenth year of Qianlong year 27 (1751) when Yin Guangren [Ian-Kuong-Iâm] and Zhang Rulin [Tcheong-Ü-Lam completed the book Aomen Jilue [Ou-Mun Kei-Leok] (Monograph of Macao)11 and wrote the preface. The Tributaries Scroll quoted much of what is found in Aomen Jilue and, in certain parts, whole paragraphs were quoted.

Comparing the Tributaries Scroll and the Aomen Jilue, the author of this study found that the inscriptions on the Tributaries Scroll on England, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Occidental countries (i. e., European countries), black slaves of the Occidental 'devils', Occidental monks and nuns (i. e., European priests and nuns), Brunei, Japan, Java, the Philippines, Ryukiu, Siam (Thailand), and foreigners from the small Occident (i. e., Portuguese from Goa), are similar to those in the Aomen Jilue, some parts being partially or entirely copied. An example is the inscription of the Tributaries Scroll on the "Black slaves of the Occidental 'devils'", i. e., of the European countries, namely Portugal:

"Black slaves of the Occidental 'devils'. The black slaves of the devils that the foreigners employ were known as Kuan Lan slaves in the days of the Tang dynasty. In the history of the Ming dynasty, the slaves that the Dutch used were known as 'devil crows'. They are born on all the islands that are outside China. When they arrive at first they give them food to eat, but for days on end they suffer from diahorrea. This is called 'the change of intestines'. Sometimes they die; however, those that survive may be servants for a long time. Their bodies are completely black like back lacquer. Their lips are red and their teeth white. They wear red felt hats, short shirts stripped in different colours, and always carry a stick. The women wear a coloured cloth around the neck, their dresses are cut low at the bust and they wear a short skirt rather than trousers, and bracelets on the wrists and ankles. Both men and women wear black leather shoes to make walking easier. The foreigners, both men and women, sit down together and the black slaves serve them food. They throw the remains of the food into a recipient like a manger. The male and female slaves then take handfuls of this to eat. The homes where the foreigners live are laid out on several floors. The black slaves live on the ground floor. If an owner hates a slave he shuts him up for the rest of his life, not allowing him to marry to prevent reproduction."12

The author discovered that this inscription made of one hundred and seventy-three Chinese characters on the painting "Black slaves of the Occidental 'devils'", belonging to the first part of the Tributaries Scroll, was almost entirely copied from the Aomen Jilue revised and annotated, edited by the Instituto Cultural de Macau (Cultural Institute of Macao). The inscriptions on the Scroll on foreign priests and nuns, with one hundred and ninety-nine Chinese characters, were also taken from the Aomen Jilue. One hundred and seventy-two out of the one hundred and ninety-two Chinese characters on the inscription on the "Occidental countries", were equally taken from the Aomen Jilue. Apart from this, a note on "Holland" made use of eighty-eight characters; on "Ryukiu" [Islands], sixty-nine; "Siam", sixty-five; and the"Philippines", fifty-nine.

The Aomen Jilue also supplied the material for specific figures in the Tributaries Scroll. Based on the illustrations in the book such as "a foreign man", "a foreign woman" and "a Jesuit", the Imperial Court painters made adaptations and added colours thus creating the figures of men and women from the Occidental countries as well as their priests.

The comparisons and findings described above demonstrate that the drafting and publication of the book Aomen Jilue provided rich and reliable written and illustrative material for the Tributaries Scroll. It should be remembered that Macao gave valuable support in concluding the first part of the Scroll, in the twenty-sixth year of the Qianlong Emperor. The first part of the Scroll refers in four different places to the relations between Macao and the priest Matteo Ricci, as well as between Italians, Portuguese and Dutch. 13

1. Occidental foreigners. During the reign of Yongle (°1403-†1425) of the Ming dynasty, Calicut, Ormuz and tens of other Occidental countries came to pay tribute but after that most of them did not return. During the reign of Wanli (°1573-†1620), Matteo Ricci arrived by sea saying he was Italian. In the sixth year of Kangxi of our dynasty (1667), links were re-established abroad. In the third year of Yongzheng (1725), the religious king came to pay tribute to China. In the fifth year (1727), Portugal came to pay tribute, and in the eighteenth year of Qianlang (1753), returned to China again. These individuals practised Catholicism, were skilled in matters of trade, and many of them were very rich. They were white-skinned, with high-bridged noses, and dark-green eyes. They did not let their hair grow but used wigs and three-cornered black felt hats. They dressed in short jerkins, wore leather boots and tied their trousers tightly at the knees like stockings. The women rolled their hair on top of their heads, and adorned their necks with gold, pearls and precious stones. Clothing is divided into two parts, outer and inner. Silk or embroidery cover the back. This is called the 'jinman' (shawl). It is their custom to respect the woman more than the man. When (a girl and a boy) fall in love they marry. The leader of the foreigners controls all the foreigners living in Macao, the district of Xiangshan, and pays the rent for the land every year.

2. Occidental monks and nuns. Each Occidental country has two kings, one civilian and the other religious. Merchants belong to the civilian king, and the monks to the religious one. They believe in Christ and pay homage to his portrait. When they have serious problems or matters to resolve, they ask the church for a solution. The religious king has his hair cut but lets his beard grow, wears a round blue hat and black robes. When he goes outside he is protected by a luxurious parasol and standards and is surrounded by small monks. At the sight of him, men and women kneel and touch his feet, and only rise when he has passed. Those who learn religious theory and visit the capital begin to wear a moustache. They know Chinese and make measuring instruments. The nuns wear a white cloth over their heads and a black robe and shawl. The foreigners respect the nuns more than the monks. When a woman becomes a nun her whole family belongs to the church. If a member of the family commits a crime, it is enough for the nun to write a letter for that person to be pardoned, but prior to this a large amount of gold has to be given to the public. When a woman enters the church, she never leaves it. In Macao, the monks live in the Church of St. Paul and in other churches, and the nuns live in different churches. Their discipline is very strict.

3. "Faranci" is also known as "Franci", that is "Frangi" in the days of the Ming dynasty. 14 In ancient times they had no contact with China. Towards the middle of the reign of Zhengde (°1506-†1522), in the Ming dynasty, diplomats were sent to China to be appointed and to pay tribute, but they did not manage this. Later, they illegally entered Macao, in the district of Heong San. They were courageous and knew how to use weapons, and they took Malacca in the Philippines several times, fought over territories with the foreigners with red hair (the Dutch), and fully controlled the seas of Fujian and Guandong. They practised Buddhism and then went on to practise Catholicism. This is why the Macao market was easily taken by the countries of the Atlantic. The "Francis" living in the Philippines had fought with England belonging to the foreigners with the red hair (the Dutch), the "Francis" being smaller in number and weaker.

The foreigners cover their heads with a white kerchief and a black felt hat, they greet one another by raising their hats, their clothing and decoration are more or less the same as the people from the Atlantic countries, the foreigners from Goa and the Philippines. The clothes worn by the "Franci" women are similar to those of the Dutch and those from other countries.

4. Dutch foreigners. The Dutch foreigners are also called the foreigners with the red hair. Their country is close to that of the "Franci". During the reign of Wanli, in the Ming dynasty, they frequently piloted great ships and anchored off Macao in the district of Xiangshan to pay tribute and to trade, but they did not achieve their objectives. Soon after they entered the province of Fujian and took control of the island of Ponghu and invaded Taiwan. In the tenth year of Shunzhi (1653), they began to pay tribute via Guangdong. In the early years of Kangxi, the Dutch, because of their merit in having helped our powerful troops to conquer Taiwan, did not cease to pay tribute, but the channel of tribute was through Fujian. These foreigners wore black felt hats and when they meet they greet a person by removing their hat and embracing them. They wear embroidered clothes and carry a sword and whip. The women wear low-cut dresses, long skirts and red leather shoes, and wear a shawl over the shoulders. Besides this, there is also Java which is the capital of the land in the South sea also known as 'Rui' which means 'luck.

From the four descriptions above we learn that the authors of the Tributaries Scroll did detailed research and wrote lively descriptions of the features, behaviour, temperament, clothing and ornamentation, habits and customs and the religious ceremonies of the western residents of Macao and the Dutch that had invaded Macao. For example, the foreigners of the countries of the Atlantic "[...] practice Catholicism, are skilled in the art of trade, and many of them are rich. They are white-skinned, have high-arched noses, and dark green, deep-set eyes [...]". These descriptions, together with the illustrations, are like a photograph of these individuals. This illustrates how through the book Aomen Jidue, the Chinese made some progress in getting to know the West with this Tributaries Scroll. In dealing with the delicate problem of relations between Macao and the western world, the inscriptions on the Scroll correspond very closely with history and the particular situation at the time. This proves that in the mid-eighteenth century, the leaders of the Qing dynasty had a reasonable understanding of the special status of Macao and the western world, quite different to the ignorant emperors and high ranking figures of the Court at the end of the Ming dynasty. In the eyes of the Emperor Qianlong, Macao was an area or a window through which to understand and study foreign countries, a channel for introducing the modem science and technology of the West, and an important trading port between East and West. Apart from this, with its lively, detailed descriptions in word and illustration, the Tributaries Scroll confirmed the international status of Macao and the form of rent paid in the mid-eighteenth century.

§4. HISTORICAL VALUE, ARTISTIC SUCCESS AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE

Qianlong's Tributaries Scroll is the first long series of illustrations in the history of Chinese civilisation which, with plentiful descriptions and illustrations, gives a detailed view of the foreign peoples and national minorities in the actual country, and is precious historical material for studying Macao and relations between China and other countries in the eighteenth century. It is a well known fact that due to the long period in which the country was closed off and isolated during the feudal dynasties, that historical material on Macao and foreigners in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was difficult to come by, and in what little material existed there were innumerable and even ridiculous mistakes. Vain and arrogant Emperors and Ministers nurtured incredible preconceived ideas about Western countries and their peoples, considering other countries to be "crude lands" and "countries of savages". In some documents, the Westerners were even described as "devils" and "cannibals". Qianlong's Tributaries Scroll changed this traditional view and wiped out this concept, recording and describing foreigners from an objective view point. This is without doubt important progress and a land mark in the historical documentation of China. Apart from demonstrating a certain superiority complex of the Celestial Empire and the presence of some mistakes and faults, for example confusing Portugal, Spain and France, and dealing with England and Sweden as countries under Dutch rule, etc., Qianlong's Tributaries Scroll left some highly authentic, reliable historical material for later generations. These mistakes or faults usually arise from mistakes in the history of the Ming dynasty. Apart from that, the linguistic problem was another important source of error because the majority of Chinese then living in Macao were fishermen from Guangdong and Fujian and the civil servants Ying Guaren [zhengtang of Chaozhou in Guangdong Province] and Zhan Rulin [Supervisor of the Transport of Salt, also located at Chaozhou], appointed by the Court of Beijing, were Mandarins who respectively spoke the Jiangsu and Anhui dialects. The Chinese dialects of the four Provinces to which Portuguese, Italian, English and French is added as spoken by the Westerners living in Macao at the time caused linguistic confusion that inevitably gave rise to many misunderstandings and mistakes. Nowadays when studying the history of Macao and the history of China's relations abroad, these two major historical works — the Tributaries Scroll and the Aomen Jilue — complement and confirm one another, and both have the same value and importance.

The Tributaries Scroll was created at a time which was highly prosperous for the development of traditional Chinese painting — that of the Spring Festival. It was in this period that the painting of the Spring festival by Yan Liuqing, Tianjin, in the Province of Hebei, included innovation followed by yet more innovation, with wood engraved paintings of this type sold throughout the country, and exercising considerable influence; those of Tao Hua Wu, in the city of Suzhou in the Province of Jiansu, entered his zenith; Yan Jia Fu, in the Wei District, in the Province of Shangdong was developing rapidly. All of this marked the maturity of the Chinese painting of the Spring Festival. At the same time, the Western missionaries and painters, Giuseppe Castiglione, Ignatius Sichelbarth and Denis Attiret worked in the Court of the Qing dynasty. As from 1737, the Qianlong Emperor lived frequently in the Yuanmingyuan Palace [on the outskirts of Beijing], ordering Denis Attiret and the Chinese painters Tang Dai, Sun You, Shenyuan, Zhang Wanban and Ding Guanpeng to work on the design of a painting for the same palace, thus creating an unprecedented example of collaboration between Chinese and Western painters in creating a large scale painting. Since that time, concepts and techniques of the Western arts began to appear in Chinese painting.

Influenced by the traditional Chinese painting of the Spring Festival and by Western painting, the style of the Tributaries Scroll pays more attention to the use of colour, detail and to the reality of the figures, releasing classical Chinese painting from a rigid, dogmatic technique. In the Scroll, the proportion of the figures is correct, they are life-like as in a natural painting. The technique for using colours is particularly important, and gave rise to a new physiognomy for traditional painting. Despite still using xuan paper and traditional paints, the concept of colour in Western painting was obviously accepted for the Tributaries Scroll, no longer being carefully restricted to only the outlines, retaining the spirit of life found in the Chinese painting of the Spring Festival as well as the detailed realism typical of the Western painter Giuseppe Castiglione. 64,34 metres in length, the work of three-hundred-and-one painters, including six-hundred-and-two human figures, the Tributaries Scroll is a work of art unrivalled in the eighteenth century, a unique illustration of anthropology, folklore and genre painting, as well as a miracle in the world history of painting. The success of the Tributaries Scroll in art demands special research to study it in even greater detail.

Who was (or were) the artist (or artists) responsible for the Tributaries Scroll? According to records in the Imperial Palace Museum, in Taibei, it was the painter Xie Sui, because the same museum uses the title Tributaries Scroll by Xie Sui. Personally I do not think that this title is correct in giving the name of the painter. The Scroll was a collective work produced by the Academy of Fine Arts and Jun Ji Chu of the Court, executed under the personal guidance of the Emperor Qianlong.

Collecting reference materials from different locations in the Empire and sketches of the painting, the final painting and the use of colours, was the work of many literati and painters. According to the inscriptions on the Tributaries Scroll of the Qing Imperial Court, reprinted by the Wu Ying Dian Library, reproduction of this work was divided into seven sections requiring twenty-eight people, four of them painters: Men Qingan, Xu Fu, Dai Yuji and Sun Dam. This leads me to believe that Xie Sui was no more than one of the several painters involved in the original coloured work. Apart from this, the Scroll includes inscriptions written by the Emperor Qianlong and written notes in Chinese and Manchu, apart from the illustrations themselves. Respecting the orders given by the Emperor, the Academy painted; according to material provided by different locations, Ju Ji Chu redrafted the notes which, ratified by the Emperor, were copied by the scribes onto the Scroll. A work of this considerable scale cannot be done by one person alone. In the Imperial Palace Museum in Taibei, I viewed the Scroll and studied it at length in artificial light, and I noticed a certain difference in the lines and colours between the first two and the last two parts, proof that the Scroll could not have been illustrated exclusively by Xie Sui. This is why the title Tributaries Scroll by Qianlong is more correct than the Tributaries Scroll by Xie Sui.

[...]

Translated from a Portuguese version of the Chinese original by: Sheilah Cardno

CHINESE GLOSSARY

Anhui dialects 安徽方言

Celeng 策楞

Complete books of the Four Treasures Compiled by Imperial Command 欽定四庫全書 Qinding Siku Quanshu

Dai Yuji 戴禹汲

Ding Guanpeng 丁觀鵬

Franci 法蘭西 [Faranci, Frangi]

Fujian 福建

Gansu 甘肅

Guangdong 廣東

Guangxi 廣西

Guizhou 貴州

guqin 古琴

Hebei 河北

Heilongjian 黑龍江

Hunan 湖南

Imperial Palace Museum 故宫博物院 Gugong Bowuguan

Jiangsu 江蘇

Jiling 吉寜

Jun Ji Chu 军機處

Kangxi 康熙

Liaoning 遼寜

Li 黎

Men Qing An 門慶安

Miao 苗

Monografia de Macau 澳門紀略 Aomen Jilue

Penghu 彭湖

Sichuan 四川

Shandong 山東

Shenyuan 沈源

Shunzi 順治

Sun Daru 孫大儒

Sun You 孫祐

Suzhou 蘇州

Taibei 台北

Tang 茁

Tang Dai 茁岱

Tao Hua Wu 桃花塢

Tianjin 天津

Tributaries Scroll of the Qing Imperial Court 皇淸職貢圖 Huangqing Zhigong Tu

Tributaries Scroll 職貢圖 Zhigong Tu

Tributaries Scroll by Qianlong 乾隆職貢圖Qianlong Zhigong Tu

Wanli 万曆

Wei 濰

Wen Yuan Ge Library 文淵閣

Wu Ying Dian Library 武英殿

Xiangshan 香山

Xie Sui 謝遂

Xinjiang 新疆

Xu Fu 徐傅

Xu Xin 徐新 Choi San

Yan Jiafu 楊家起

Yangliu qing 楊柳靑

Yao 猺

Yin Guangren 印光任

Yongle 永樂

Yuanmingyuan 圓明園

Yunan 雲南

Zhang Rulin 張汝霖

Zhang Wanban 張万邦

Zhengde 正德

NOTES

1 The Complete books of the Four Treasures Compiled by Imperial Command is a vast work which was begun in the thirty eighth year of Qianlong year 38 (1773) and completed ten years later, containing 3,503 entries divided into 79,337 volumes. The seven copies, housed in seven Chinese National Libraries, were totally or partially destroyed during wars. Only after 1983 did Taiwan and the People's Republic of Chinese re-edited such complete books again.

2 Jun Fu System: lit.: Military Government. In the Qing dynasty, there were five military Governments led by generals who administered both Military and Civil Affairs in regions which corresponded to actual Provinces: that of Sheng Jing (currently Liaoning 遼寜), Jiling 吉寜 and Heilongjian 黑龍江, in the Northeast of the country, and that of Ili (to the North and South of the Tianshan Mountains) and Uriyasudaui in the Northwest.

3 'Mengs' and 'Banners' Systems: established between 1624 and 1771 and based on the social system already existing in Mongolia was used during the Qing dynasty to conquer the Mongols. The 'Banner' was the basic unit which incorporated military, administrative and judicial functions, several 'Banners' forming one 'Meng'.

4 KESHIA = Body giving orders, in Tibetan.

5 KAROM = Sentry lookout.

During his reign Qianlong broke up the rebellions of Armursana, Big Hecho and Small Hecho, unifying the whole Xinjiang 新疆 region. In 1762, Qianlong settled the Karons in Xinjiang 新疆to strengthen his control of the region.

6 That is, four types of books: Ji, Jing, Shi, and Zi.

Ji — contains works of prose, poetry, opera and literary criticism;

Jing — contains the classical works of Confucianism;

Shi — contains historical works; and

Zi — contains works from different academic schools and Daoism, including philosophy, politics, science and technology and the arts.

7 In the Qing dynasty, this was the organisation assisting the Emperor with Administration, acting as a Bureau secretariat.

8 See: Tributaries Scroll of the Qing Imperial Court, in "The Complete books of the Four Treasures Compiled by Imperial Command", (Shi / Historical Series), part. I.

9 XIE Sui, Revision and Notation of Inscriptions in Manchu, Taibei, Imperial Palace Museum, p. 12.

10 See the first part of the Tributaries Scroll reprinted by the Wu Ying Dian Library.

11 TCHEONG-Ü-Lam- IAN-Kuong-Iâm, Ou-Mun Kei-Leok: Monografia de Macau, Macau, Imprensa Oficial, 1950 [reprint: (Edição Quinzena de Macau [...], Lisboa) Macau, [Leal Senado] Tipografia Martinho, 1979]. —For the version in Portuguese of the Macao Monograph.

13 Tributaries Scroll, housed in the Imperial Palace Museum, Taibei, part. I.

14 In the history of the Ming dynasty, "Frangi" means Portugal and (or) Spain.

15 The confusion is seen here between Portugal and Spain.

* Director of the Martyrs' Museum in Nagasaki. Researcher on the Portuguese and the Jesuit Mission in Japan. Author of numerous articles and publications or related topics.