11 ASIAN HISTORY Siebert, (eds) & Ko Chen Making the Machine Palace Work Edited by Martina Siebert, Kai Jun Chen, and Dorothy Ko Making the Palace Machine Work Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire Making the Palace Machine Work Asian History The aim of the series is to offer a forum for writers of monographs and occasionally anthologies on Asian history. The series focuses on cultural and historical studies of politics and intellectual ideas and crosscuts the disciplines of history, political science, sociology and cultural studies. Series Editor Hans Hågerdal, Linnaeus University, Sweden Editorial Board Roger Greatrex, Lund University David Henley, Leiden University Ariel Lopez, University of the Philippines Angela Schottenhammer, University of Salzburg Deborah Sutton, Lancaster University Making the Palace Machine Work Mobilizing People, Objects, and Nature in the Qing Empire Edited by Martina Siebert, Kai Jun Chen, and Dorothy Ko Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: Artful adaptation of a section of the 1750 Complete Map of Beijing of the Qianlong Era (Qianlong Beijing quantu 乾隆北京全圖) showing the Imperial Household Department by Martina Siebert based on the digital copy from the Digital Silk Road project (http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/II-11-D-802, vol. 8, leaf 7) Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6372 035 9 e-isbn 978 90 4855 322 8 (pdf) doi 10.5117/9789463720359 nur 692 Creative Commons License CC BY NC ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0) The authors / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2021 Some rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, any part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise). Table of Contents Acknowledgments 15 Conventions for the Notation of Time, Weights, and Measures 17 Note on Translation 20 Note on the Frontmatter Maps and Cover Image 21 Introduction 23 Martina Siebert, Kai Jun Chen, and Dorothy Ko Part I Operating the Machine: Personnel and Paper Trails Vignette Essay I Moving Pieces 41 On the Reuse of Interior Decoration Components in Qing Palaces Shuxian Zhang 1 Working the Qing Palace Machine 47 The Servants’ Perspective Christine Moll-Murata 2 Manager or Craftsman 73 Skillful Bannermen of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) Kai Jun Chen 3 Kupiao and the Accounting System of the Imperial Household Workshops 93 Yijun Wang and Kyoungjin Bae Part II Producing the Court: Materials and Artefacts Vignette essay II The Story of An Image 129 Ding Guanpeng’s ‘Ultimate Bliss’ and the Auspiciousness of Reproduction Qiong Zhang 4 Piecing Shards Together 135 The Uses and Manufacturing of Imperial Porcelain Guangyao Wang 5 Resplendent Innovations 157 Fire Gilding Techniques at the Qing Court Te-cheng Su and Hui-min Lai 6 Transporting Jade 187 Objects, Ecology, and Local Bureaucracy in Qing Xinjiang Yulian Wu Part III Mobilizing Nature: Plants and Animals Vignette essay III Decluttering 217 On the Classification of Objects at the Imperial Household Department Elif Akcetin 7 Growing and Organizing Lotus in Qing Imperial Spaces 225 Interlocking Cycles of Money and Nature Martina Siebert 8 The Medicine Supply System of the Qing Court 253 Xueling Guan 9 When There Is Peace, There Are Elephants 271 Hui-chun Yu Coda 291 Dorothy Ko, Kai Jun Chen, and Martina Siebert Contributors 295 Bibliography 299 Index 323 List of Figures, Tables, Charts, and Maps Figures Figure I.1 Decoration and condition of the front bed in Leshou Hall in 2018 44 Figure I.2 Lower part frame of Leshou Hall bed 44 Figure 2.1 Wanggiyan clan’s family tree and genealogy 77 Figure 2.2 List of how much a cube would weigh in thirty-two materials 85 Figure 3.1 Kupiao issued in 1736 96 Figure 3.2 Budgetary Ledgers of Gold in Each Works of 1740 102 Figure 3.3 Accounts for Korean summer textiles in Shiyong zanling xiancun dang in 1794 107 Figure 3.4 Kupiao issued to the Southern Workshop in 1736 111 Figure 3.5 Kupiao issued to the Copper Workshop in 1736 113 Figure 3.6 Monthly Summary of 1793 119 Figure II.1 Kesi tapestry of Ding Guanpeng’s ‘Ultimate Bliss’ without Qianlong’s 1782 dedication 133 Figure 5.1 Japanese copper bars (saodō 棹銅) and a replica of the box used to send the bars to the Qing empire 169 Figure 5.2a-b The gilded roof of the Dugang Hall of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple, Chengde 178 Figure 5.3 Qianlong jin’gang copper bell 183 Figure 6.1 Transporting certificate (left part of the document) and its attached inventory list (right part) of the third allotment that left Yarkand on 23 June 1779 (QL 44/5/10) with 22 packages in total 199 Figure 7.1 View in northerly direction over the lotus-covered Middle Lake 中海 with Beihai Bridge and White Stupa 白塔 226 Figure 7.2 Mid 19th century illustration of Rainbow Bridge with a view of the White Stupa 231 Figure 7.3 Ledger on lotus rent and debt payments 241 Figure 7.4 Register on rented lotus areas and changes in tenancy 241 Figure 7.5 The Empress Dowager Cixi and attendants on Middle Lake 245 Figure 8.1 Medicinal bottle offered by the Tongren House to the court 260 Figure 8.2 Various patterns for medical tablets (dingzi yao 錠 子藥) 266 Figure 9.1 Treasure and leading elephant of the Grand Impe- rial Procession as depicted in the Illustrations to the Statutes of the Great Qing (Da Qing huidian tu 大清會典圖) 274 Figure 9.2a-b ‘Western Show [i.e. G. Chiarini’s Royal Italian Circus and Performing Animals] Arrived Again (in Shanghai)’ (xi xi chong lai 西戲重來) 286 Tables Table 1.1 Nominal number of officials in the Imperial Household Department 49 Table 5.1 Changkya Rölpé Dorjé’s formula 181 Table 5.2 Benoist’s formula 181 Table 5.3 Results of a modern alloy composition analysis (shown in wt.%, Bal. = balance) on the surface of standard copper bells and jin’gang copper bells from the Qianlong period 182 Table 6.1 Exchange rate between sheep and horses as reported by Yunggui in 1779 202 Table 7.1 Sources of lotus income according to Garden Bureau Regulations as of 1840 236 Table 7.2 Lotus money balance of the years 1838 and 1839 238 Table 8.1 Annual tribute of medicinal material from Renhe County 256 Charts Chart 3.1 Workflow of a commission at the Imperial Work- shops from assignment to archiving 114 Chart 3.2 Workflow after the 1755 accounting system reform 116 Chart 5.1 Withdrawals and deposits of ‘pure gold’ in the Bullion Vaults of the Grand Storage Office (Guang- chusi) in the Qianlong reign 166 Chart 5.2 The aggregated amount of copper stocked in the Ceramic Vaults and the Yangxin Palace 養心殿 of the Imperial Household Department during Qianlong’s reign 170 Maps Map 1a Imperial City 10 Map 1b Forbidden City 11 Map 2 Beijing and outskirts 12 Map 3 Qing China around 1840 13 Map 6.1 Main post routes in southern Xinjiang during the late Qing 196 Map 1a Imperial City 3 5 4 2 Westpark 6 Jingshan 1 7 Park 8 10 9 11 Westpark border until 1887 12 15 14 22 13 16 20 21 19 N 17 23 18 24 Imperial City borders/walls 25 Forbidden City 27 borders/walls 34 26 Approximate boundary 33 of inner-outer court 32 28 Road 31 29 30 Gates Bridge Map by Mary Yang Map 1b Forbidden City N 53 54 52 51 50 55 49 48 47 46 45 44 60 38 56 43 57 42 40 58 41 38 38 39 38 37 36 59 35 1 Catholic church at Xishiku 15 Inner Department of Works 31 Board of Punishment 48 Qianqing Palace 2 Sandalwood Temple 16 Garden of Abundant 32 Court of Censors 49 Maoqin Hall 3 Temple of Sericulture Benecence 33 Court of Imperial Sacrice 50 Qixiang Palace 4 North Lake 17 Yingtai 34 Imperial Procession Guard 51 Zhongzheng Hall 5 Imperial Bureau of Weaving 18 South Lake 35 Ceramic Vaults 52 Jianfu Palace and Dying 19 Oce of Insignia 36 Wuying Palace 53 Bilin Lodge 6 Oce of Inspection and 20 Court of Treasury of the 37 Hongyi Pavilon 54 Hall of Zhengyi mingdao Censors for the Aairs at Imperial Workshops 38 Courtyards of the Imperial 55 Ningshou Palace the Imperial Household 21 Imperial Ancestral Temple Workshops 56 Medicinal Warehouse Department 22 Imperial Armory 39 Silver Vault 57 Imperial Academy of 7 White Stupa 23 Textile Vault (of Board of 40 Courtyard of the Imperial Medicine duty oce 8 Gold-Turtle Jade-Rainbow Revenue) Household Department 58 Imperial Stud Bridge 24 Ministry for Ruling Outer 41* Grand Storage Oce 59 Archives of the Grand 9 Oce of Control and Provinces 42 Treasury of the Imperial Secretariat Punishment 25 Imperial Chariot Garage Workshops 60 Jingyun Gate 10 Catholic church at Canchikou 26 Board of Work 43 Audit Bureau and 11 Pavilion of Purple Light 27 Court of Imperial Clan Document House 12 Middle Lake 28 Board of Revenue 44 Grand Council 13 Yiluan Palace 29 Board of Rites 45 Southern Study 14 Bureau of Imperial Gardens 30 Court of Imperial Academy 46 Imperial Dispensary and Parks of Medicine 47 Yangxin Palace * The map above shows the position of the Grand Storage Oce according to the Qianlong map. An internal map of the Beijing Palace Museum locates the oce within the Courtyard of the Imperial Household Department (no.