ABSTRACT
In 1751, Qianlong (r. 1735–96), indisputably the most grandiose emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) in China, embarked upon a project of an unprecedented scale, categorizing and imaging different peoples under the rule of his Qing Empire. This project took more than ten years to finish and generated thousands of images, their forms ranging from album leaves to handscrolls, hanging scrolls, and woodblock-printed books. By examining the different stages of its production, this chapter shows how the first-hand materials sent from the local with the depictions of the distinctive physical features of the minorities were not only generified and tamed to look alike, but classified only by their dissimilar costumes. It also argues that by combining the application of the European mode of paired couples and the adscription of the traditional tributary painting genre, the final-stage products of this project, Imperial Qing Illustrations of Tributary Peoples, seamlessly emblematizes the powerful global and historical dimensions of this project, claiming the territory of the Qianlong emperor’s empire both in space and time.
