Envoys Presenting Tribute
Su Liupeng (Artist unknown ; spurious signature of Su Liupeng)
Qing dynasty (1644–1911), about 1850
- Medium
- Handscroll; ink on silk
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 34.9 × 355 cm (13 3/4 × 139 13/16 in.)
- Culture
- China
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Charles C. Haffner III
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
In this scroll, envoys from abroad offer tributes to the Chinese imperial court. These foreign representatives carry precious objects, such as coral and decorative rocks, and bring with them rare animals, including a lion and a fantastical creature called a qilin. These unique gifts evoke abundance from distant lands, and this vision of harmony and successful exchange suggests that riches from across the world naturally flow toward a well-ordered realm. It affirms the ruler’s supreme mandate and China’s commercial vitality.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
