Reception of guests at the Manchu court

Reception of guests at the Manchu court.
The China Trade series of paintings called “Palaces”, composed of eleven different scenes depicting the daily court life in the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, and the life of China's richest and most powerful classes, mainly high dignitaries, or so-called mandarins, receiving guests at times of leisure. Depicted are different palace scenes, exteriors and interiors generally facing north to south, spreading out from a central axis (in the case of North China, in contrast to South China where they faced east-west, to better suit the weather conditions in these climes).
Joana Belard da Fonseca, in the catalogue Presença Portuguesa na Ásia, Museu do Oriente, 2008, p. 389-391