Portraits of Periodical Offering

The Portraits of Periodical Offering were tributary documentative paintings produced by various Chinese dynasties and later as well in other East Asian dynasties, such as Japan and Vietnam. These paintings were official historical documents by the imperial courts. The term "職貢圖" roughly translates to "duty offering pictorial". Throughout Chinese history, tributary states and tribes were required to send ambassadors to the imperial court periodically and pay tribute with valuable gifts.
Drawings and paintings with short descriptions were used to record the expression of these ambassadors and to a lesser extent to show the cultural aspects of these ethnic groups. These historical descriptions beside the portrait became the equivalent of documents of diplomatic relations with each country. The drawings were reproduced in woodblock printing after the 9th century and distributed among the bureaucracy in albums. The Portraits of Periodical Offering of Imperial Qing by Xie Sui, completed in 1751, gives verbal descriptions of outlying tribes as far as the island of Britain in Western Europe.

Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang (526–539 CE)

The Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang was painted by the future Emperor Yuan of Liang, Xiao Yi of the Liang dynasty while he was a Governor of the province of Jingzhou as a young man between 526 and 539 CE, a post he held again between 547 and 552 CE, and had the opportunity to meet many foreigners. It is the earliest surviving of these specially significant paintings. They reflect foreign embassies that took place, particularly regarding the three Hephthalite ambassadors, in 516–520 CE. The original of the work was lost, but three copies or derived works are known.

Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang (526–539 CE) (Song dynasty copy of the 11th century CE)

A surviving edition of this work is a copy from the Song dynasty in the 11th century, the Song copy of the Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang, and is currently preserved at the National Museum of China. The original work consisted of at least twenty five portraits of ambassadors from their various countries. The copy from the Song dynasty has twelve portraits and descriptions of thirteen envoys; the envoy from Dangchang has no portrait. The work included individual descriptions, which follow closely the dynastic chronicle Liangshu.
The envoys from right to left were: the Hephthalites, Persia, Korea, Kucha, Japan, Malaysia, Qiang, Yarkand, Kabadiyan, Kumedh, Balkh, and finally Merv.
The remaining countries, now lost, are thought to have been: Gaojuli 高句麗, Yutian 於闐, Xinluo 新羅, Kepantuo 渴盤陀, Wuxing fan 武興藩, Gaochang 高昌, Tianmen Man 天門蠻, Dan 蜑 Barbarians of Jianping 建平蠻, and Man 蠻 Barbarians of Linjiang 臨江蠻. There may also have been: Zhongtianzhu 中天竺, Bei tianzhu 北天竺, and Shiziguo 獅子國, for a total of twenty-five countries.

Individual portraits

Some of the main portraits are:

Tang dynasty ''The Gathering of Kings'' (circa 650 CE)

A Tang period painting consisting in a version of the Liang Dynasty portraits of Periodical Offerings, entitled The Gathering of Kings. It was probably made by Yan Liben.
From right to left, the countries are Lu which is a reference to the Eastern Wei, Rouran, Persia, Baekje, Kumedh, Baiti, Merv, Central India, Sri Lanka, Northern India, Tashkurgan, Wuxing City of the Chouchi, Kucha, Japan, Goguryeo, Khotan, Silla, Dangchang, Langkasuka, Dengzhi, Yarkand, Kabadiyan, Barbarians of Jianping, Nudan. See the complete Wanghuitu.

Individual portraits

Some of the main portraits are:

Southern Tang ''Entrance of the Foreign Visitors'' (10th century CE)

made another painting entitled "Entrance of the Foreign Visitors", now lost. A copy named "Entrance of the Foreign Visitors of Emperor Yuan of Liang" was made by the painter Gu Deqian of the Southern Tang dynasty, native of Jiangsu.
From right to left, the countries are Lu which is a reference to the Eastern Wei, Rouran, Tuyuhun, Central India, Western Wei, Champa, Sri Lanka, Northern India, Tashkurgan, Wuxing City of the Chouchi, Dangchang, Langkasuka, Dengzhi, Persia, Baekje, Kucha, Japan, Yarkand, Kabadiyan, Kumedh, Baiti, Barbarians of Linjiang , Goguryeo, Gaochang, Barbarians of Tianmen, Barbarians of Jianping, Hephthalites, Khotan, Silla, Kantoli, Funan.

''Portraits of Periodical Offering of Tang'' (Song dynasty copy, 11–13th century)

The Portraits of Periodical Offering of Tang by painter Yan Liben, depicting foreign envoys with tribute bearers for the Tang dynasty arriving at Chang'an in 631, during the reign of the Emperor Taizong of Tang. The painting consists of 27 people from various states. The original work was lost, and the only surviving edition was a Song dynasty copy, which is currently preserved at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

''Portraits of Offerings to the Imperial Qing'' (1759)

In the mid-18th century during the Qing dynasty, the painter Xiesui again painted a Portraits of Periodical Offering of the Imperial Qing, completed in 1759, with a second part added in 1765, showing various foreign people known at that time, with texts in Chinese and Manchu. See the complete Huangqing Zhigongtu.

''Ten Thousand Nations Coming to Pay Tribute'' (1761)

Ten Thousand Nations Coming to Pay Tribute is a monumental Qing dynasty painting depicting foreign delegations visiting the Qianlong Emperor in the Forbidden city in Beijing during the late 1750s.
The painting was intended to show the cosmopolitanism and the centrality of the Qing Empire, since most countries of Asia and Europe are shown paying their respects to the Chinese Emperor. The title literally refers to ten thousand countries, but this simply has the meaning of an uncountable multitude.