Painting of a Dog from An Illustrated Compendium of Animals

During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736–1795), court painters including Yu Sheng and Zhang Weibang (both act. 18th century) were commissioned to paint an album called An Illustrated Compendium of Animals (Shou pu) to depict various animals described in works such as Comprehensive Collection of Texts and Documents of the Past and Present (Gujin tushu jicheng) and The Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing). The album features illustrations on the left with inscriptions on the right. Some of the works were based on written records and imaginatively embellished while others were painted realistically after the actual likeness of known animals. The inscriptions are a parallel Chinese-Manchu text and include information about each animal.