d4 N[ii] - illustrated imperial ritual artefacts

The ritual artefacts, known as li qi, broadly speaking, are instruments that are the means for the emperors to perform his ceremonial duties in order to rule the empire. Therefore, they, as a practice of making, are accompanied by the catalogue (of collections of ancient vessels) being printed, published and circulated as an illustrated manual in order to instruct the making, intending to gain authoritative weight through inhabiting ancient models as a gesture of embracing the traditional values. It is suggested by Wu Hung that the ritual artefacts and catalogue, are the means for the emperor to rule, unify, as well as ‘synchronize’ the empire. Time devices, such as the mechanical clock imported from the west, is also collected into the catalogue during Qing dynasty, as part of the ritual artefacts, the emperor’s ruling device.