Archive materials from the Construction Department of the Imperial Household Department (内务府造办处) show the production of jade objects to have been of very specific importance for the court and even to have developed into a symbol of prosperity and a well-ordered state in the Qianlong era. Was this a strategic plan, deliberately put in place by the Qianlong emperor, or did it come about by chance? This project explored this question from two aspects: the accumulation and change of such planning awareness, on the one hand, and the accumulation and evolution of technology, on the other.
The Imperial Edict about the Jade-turning Techniques.
From The Imperial Edicts Archives of Ch'ien-lung
Project
(2015)