The Old Summer Palace
M. Iuwan Ming Yuan
C. Yuanmingyuan 圆明园

Although not a part of Qianlong’s journey, the mapmakers included the Old Summer Palace, northwest of the Imperial Palace, as a visual marker. ✕

The Imperial palace, Beijing
M. Gemun hecen,
C. Beijing, Beicheng 北京, 京城

To mark the imperial route a red dotted line starts from the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is marked by a blue square superimposed on a blue rectangle. The first day of the journey began with a decree that all places the emperor visited on the tour in the provinces of Zhili and Fengtian would have their taxes and custom duties reduced as a show of his largesse (Qing shilu, Vol. 1063, QL43.7.20). ✕

Ciyun temple | M. Tsiyūnsy | C. Ciyun si 慈雲寺

Ciyun Temple, Chaoyang District, Beijing
C. 慈云寺北京市朝阳区慈云寺
[Source]

The entourage left from the Imperial Palace and made its first stop at the Ciyun temple, a relatively new temple built eight years prior. The temple is situated in the modern day Chaoyang district of Beijing.

Mu Cang Day Stop
M. Mu Cang Uden
C. Muchang 木厂

Tongzhou,
M. Tong jeo,
C. Tongzhou 通州

The entourage then proceeded to Tongzhou, on the eastern outskirts of Beijing, where they took a rest before crossing over the Yūn 运河 and the Jian’gan 箭杆河 rivers. ✕

Grand Canal
M. Yūn ho
C. Yun he 运河

Distance Traveled on the Way Out
To the Greater Mukden area in Manchuria

Text in Chinese: 自東華門至燕郊行宮共六十七里
Translation: From the Donghua Gate to the Yanjiao travel palace, a total of 67 li

Each two-page spread has a yellow label in the top right corner indicating how far the Emperor traveled that day. This first label is the distance travelled in a day from the Imperial Palace in Beijing to the first overnight station on the way to Manchuria. (Labels also include start and end points for the day.) ✕

Jian’gan river
M. Jiyan gan ho
C. Jian’gan he 箭杆河

Yanjiao travel palace
M. Yan giyoo tatara gurung
C. Yanjiao xinggong 燕郊行宮

After crossing the second river (Jiangu), there was another major day station called the Yan Giyoo Tatara Gurung, marked with a yellow square bordered in light blue. This was an encampment that the Kangxi Emperor, Qianlong’s beloved grandfather, had built in the early years of his reign to establish the first overnight stop of the eastern tours. The Qianlong Emperor did not stay overnight on the way out, but did on the way back. The place name consists of a combination of the transcription of the Chinese toponym (Yanjiao 燕郊) transliterated into Manchu (Yan giyoo) and the Manchu term for travel palace (Tatara Gurun), a phrase referring to a palace where the Emperor stops on his travels (lit: palace camp; Chinese: xinggong 行宮). Reflecting the bilingual format of the entire map, this place name consisted of a hybrid combination of words in both languages that were not direct translations from each other.

Distance Traveled on the
Return to the Imperial Palace

Text in Chinese: Left label: 自白澗行宮至燕郊行宮共七十二里.
Translation: From the Baijian travel palace to the Yanjiao travel palace, a total of 72 li.

Additionally, each two-page spread also has a yellow label in the bottom right corner indicating how far the Emperor traveled while returning to the capital city. This label is the distance traveled in a day from the previous overnight station on the return to the Imperial Palace. ✕

Day of the Month

Text in Chinese: 九月二十五日
Translation: 9th month, 25th day

This date indicates when the emperor stayed overnight at the Yanjiao palace on the return. On the way out, however, he did not stop at Yanjiao, but went on to spend his first night at Baijian. The largest yellow labels written in Chinese record the daily progress of the journey in a manner similar to official court diaries (Qiju zhuce 起居注冊 or qijuzhu 起居注) whereby the emperor’s activities were recorded on a daily basis. This practice long predated the Qing dynasty—the earliest mention dates from the reign of Han Wudi, and such diaries probably existed even before the Han period. These diaries then served as primary source material used to compile the Veritable Records (Shilu 实录) of a dynasty.

Qipanzhuang day stop
M. ki pan juwang uden
C. Qipanzhuang 棋盘庄

Mount Pan Lung
M. Pan lung šan,
Ch. Panlong shan 蟠龙山

Source

The blue and green zone of mountains that appear in the upper section (north) on the map as a continuous range represent a color scheme used beginning in the Tang Dynasty. They run parallel to the imperial route. Behind the main range, peaks in light blue suggest that mountains continue into the distance. This gradation of colors from ocher to light blue suggest elevation and distance. While some of the peaks have naming labels and reach higher than the main range, the line of mountains appear as homogenous with no or little resemblance to actual topography. To achieve this continuous line of mountains above the imperial route, their location in space was distorted to fit the temporal-focus format of the map. The temporal scaling of the map implies that the spatial elements were markers of the passage of time, which reverses the usual mapping paradigm a modern map reader would be used to. As a result of prioritizing the representation of time over the relative distances between topographical elements, some mountain peaks appear to be closer to the route than they actually are. For example, Mount Pan Lung and Mount Pan are aligned, with Mount Pan featured directly to the west of Mount Pan Lung. They are both illustrated right above the imperial route and equidistant from it. On a modern day plane, one can see that Mount Pan lung is situated by the Great Wall, 80 km north of the road, while the Mount Pan is in fact 65 km south of Pan lung and much closer to the route. However, the route map represents both peaks on the same line. Thus, it was not their distance from the route, but the amount of traveling time separating them that dictated their position on the map.

San ho day stop
M. San ho hiyan uden

San ho county
M. San ho hiyan
C. Sanhexian 三河县

Baijian Travel Palace
M. Be gian tatara gurung,
C. Baijian xinggong 白涧行宮

Next, the emperor made his way to the Baijian Travel Palace where the staff were probably waiting anxiously for his arrival after making the night station ready for Qianlong’s stay. That day, the Qianlong Emperor hadtraveled around 71 km (the map indicates 67 li). The Chinese distance measure li is slightly longer than a kilometer and about 7/10ths of a mile. ✕

Mount Pan
M. Pan šan,
C. Pan Shan 盘山

The breathtaking views of Mount Pan, towering 858 meters above sea level, had a special significance for the Qianlong Emperor. On the map, Mount Pan emerges during the second day of travel. It is illustrated with a white pagoda on its main peak, styled after one of the thirteen pagodas built on these peaks during the Ming and Qing periods. The Qianlong Emperor was so inspired by Mount Pan’s sights that he visited it no less than thirty-two times, wrote 1,366 poems about it, and ordered many paintings of the site. This 1745 hanging scroll painting, attributed to Qianlong but probably finished by the court painter Tangdai (1673-1752), has poetic inscriptions from his 34 visits to Mount Pan from 1745-1793 (Left) (Clunas 2017, 105; Tsiang 2015, 471). Another painting of Mount Pan was also completed by the two court painters, Yao Wenhan (fl. ca. 1743-1778) and Yuan Ying (fl. ca. 1765-1785), in 1779 — the year following Qianlong’s return from Mukden (Right).

Mount Pan, Qianlong and Tangdai, hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 93.5 x 162 cm, The Palace Museum

[Source]

Mount Pan, Yao Wenhan and Yuan King, dated 1779, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, The Palace Museum

[Source]

Yiqi temple palace camp
M. Yi ci miyoo Belhehe boo dedun
C. Yiqi miao 夷齐庙

After crossing a couple of rivers, the emperor reached another palace camp at which construction had recently finished. The Yiqi temple palace camp, in modern day Luan county, Hebei province, features prominently on the map. The Yiqi temple was not new; it dated from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), but Qing emperors had done extensive reconstruction work on it. The Kangxi emperor, in 1664, had approved the rebuilding of the temple, and in 1778, the Qianlong emperor had commissioned the construction of the Yiqi temple for his upcoming eastern tour. The construction work had lasted for about six months and finished just over two months before the emperor’s arrival. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Manchu name given to the overnight station, “Yi Ci Temple Reserve House Station” (M. Yi ci miyoo Belhehe boo dedun), reflects that the building complex includes some added space. This station is illustrated as three red buildings with a blue roof forming a triangle. This same symbol of three red buildings is also used to indicate the station right before the Shanhai pass, also named a Belhehe boo. The full Chinese name for this station is Wenshu’an beiyong fang daying 文殊庵備用房大營 , which means that Belhehe boo is the Manchu equivalent of the Chinese Beiyong fang , or reserve house. This area is highlighted on the route map and indicates that the emperor toured the area, stopping at two rest day stations and one overnight station.

Horses are Changed

The Shanhai pass was also one of the places where the retinue changed their horses for fresh ones during the return. This was indicated on a yellow label: “Progressing while returning, horses are changed” (M. Marire de yendufi Morin halambi). ✕

Wenshu’an Reserve house station
M. Wenshu’an Belhehe boo dedun
C. Wenshu’an beiyong fang daying
文殊庵備用房大營

Three red buildings indicate the station right before the Shanhai pass, also named a Belhehe boo. The full Chinese name for this station is Wenshu’an beiyong fang daying 文殊庵備用房大營, which means that Belhehe boo is the Manchu equivalent of the Chinese Beiyong fang, or reserve house. This area is highlighted on the route map and indicates that the emperor toured the area, stopping at two rest day stations and one overnight station.

Shanhai pass
M. Šanahai duka,
C. Shanhaiguan 山海关

[Source]

Although not a part of Qianlong’s journey,reached after spending the night at the Wenshu’an an reserve house station(Wenshu’an Belhehe boo dedun) Named “the First Pass on Earth” during the preceding Ming dynasty, the Shanhai pass (M. Šanahai duka) was the easternmost section of the Great Wall, where the Walls met the Bohai Sea. Shanhaiguan also marks the place where the mixed landscape of steppe, forests, and fields of Manchuria meets the agrarian plains of China proper.In 1381, the Ming general Xu Da, known for chasing out the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty, oversaw the reconstruction of Shanhaiguan in an effort to close gaps in the Great Wall. In contrast with its defensive function in the Ming era, Shanhaiguan had symbolic meaning for the Manchu conquest of the Ming as it was here that they entered from Manchuria to seize Beijing in 1644.The 14 meters-high ramparts are illustrated in light blue, the same color used for the blue squares representing fortified towns along the way. This is the only place on the map where the Great Wall is visible on the map. Even though the Great Wall was readily visible on various mountain ridges and peaks along the route, such as Mount Pan Lung, it does not appear on the 1778 map, an indication of the little importance Manchu rulers gave to this construction. From the night station to the pass, the entourage made a detour to the seashore, paying a visit to the Tianxiu Gong and to the Longwang temple by the Bohai Sea. On the map, the Great Wall goes from the Bohai sea, through the pass and reaches the mountains in the north, where it fades into the distant hills.

Bohai Sea

Red Wall
M. fulgiyan fu,
C. Hong cheng 红城

Immediately after the light blue fortifications of the Great Wall, the route goes between two curved red arcs identified as “red wall” (M. fulgiyan fu). These correspond to a Zhou-era, Sixth century BCE, pounded-earth wall likely made using red soil that demarcated the beginning of the region of Manchuria. ✕

Beizhen temple
M. Bei jen miyoo
C. Beizhen miao 北镇庙

On the way out, the entourage made a special detour to visit the Beizhen temple, after changing their horses at the nearby station. There, the emperor wrote a poem that was then carved into a two meters high stele, which still stands today on the front eastern side of the Hall of Imperial Incense (御香殿) at Beizhen Temple.

Image Source: Oriental Studies Digital Library, Documentation and Information Center for Chinese Studies, Institute for Research, Kanji Zinbun
[Source]

The first lines of this pentasyllabic poem reads and may be translated:

鎮廟更西北, 禮成一問蹊.
縱觀連海濶, 直上與天齊.
不盡竒和詭, 誰知端與倪.

From Zhenmiao, going further northwest,
Ceremony done, I ask for the path.
From Guanyin Pavilion, connecting to the broad ocean,
Straight up, I meet the horizon.
Without limit, strange and wonderful,
Who knows, its beginning or end?

The poem offers a glimpse into Qianlong’s travels. Beginning with the concluding ceremony at the temple, his mind wanders and he inquires of the path, highlighting him as a traveler navigating unfamiliar space. Gazing at the landscape, he expresses feelings of wonder at the immensity of the ocean meeting the horizon.

Ilagūri Mountain
M. Ilagūri alin
C. Yiwulü shan 医巫闾山,
Lü shan 闾山

The Guangning temple area is at the foot of the Ilagūri Mountain (C. Yiwulu shan 医巫闾山). This is the first mountain on the route that is identified using the Manchu name alin, instead of the Manchu transcription of the Chinese (šan; shan 山), reflecting the journey’s progression into the Manchu homeland. ✕

Guang niyeng county
M. Guang niyeng hiyan
C. YGuangning xian 广宁县

After eight days journeying to the northeast along the shores of the Bohai sea, the route shifted northward to reach a major stop, the Guangning temple area, at the foot of the Ilagūri Mountain (C. Yiwulu shan 医巫闾山). The town of Guangning was the site of a battle led by Nurhaci and his Jurchen troops in 1622 that attacked a Ming fort. They were initially repelled by cannon fire, but in an ensuing battle, the Jurchens defeated the Ming troops. ✕

Tomb of Hong Taiji
M. Eldengge munggan
C. Zhaoling 昭陵

Tomb of Hong Taiji (1592-1643) and empress Xiaoduanwen (1614-1643) (Her original Mongolian name was Jerjer Borjigid). ✕

Mukden Palace
M. Mukden Gurung
C. Shenyang gugong 沈阳故宫

Qianlong Visit to Ancestral Graves, Nicolas Ponce, Paris 1788, pl. 22 & 23, copperplate, ink on paper, 30.9 x 43.5 cm, British Museum 1877, 0714.1524 & 1525
[Source]

[Source]

In Mukden, the Qianlong Emperor did not miss the occasion to exhibit the martial values of the founders of the dynasty. The preservation and continuity of this martial spirit was central to the affirmation of Manchu identity. When he reached Mukden in 1778, he declared the superiority of the Jurchen army over the Ming by reciting the account of an earlier military battle: “At the Battle of Sarhū [in 1619], [Our troops] routed four columns of Ming troops numbering more than twenty thousand men. When those near and far caught wind of this and grew fearful, this constituted one foundation for Our Dynasty” (Chang, 161).This refers to a succession of victories by Nurhaci, the founder of the dynasty, against an alliance between Ming and Korean troops. Praising the martial spirit of the Jurchen soldiers who had fought with the Ming troops fostered a narrative of Manchu exceptionalism.

Tomb of Nurhaci
M. Hūturingga Munggan
C. Fuling 福陵

Tomb of Nurhaci, the first Qing Emperor (1559-1626), and the Empress Monggo Jerjer of the Yehe nara clan; Chinese name: 孝慈高皇后 Xiaoqigao Huanghou (1575-1603). ✕

The Eternal Tombs
M. Enteheme Munggan
C. Yongling 永陵

The route ended at the memorial complex called the Eternal Tombs. Built for the ancestors of Nurhaci, they contain the burial sites of
His father (M. Taksi, C. Takeshi 塔克世);
Grandfather (M. Glocangga, C. Jingzu Yi Huangdi 景祖翼皇帝);
Great-great-grandfather (M. Fuman, C. Xingzu Zhi Huangdi 兴祖直皇帝);
and Great-great-great-great-great grandfather (M. Möngke Temür, C. Zhaozu Yuan Huangdi 肇祖原皇帝). ✕

Hetu Ala
M. Yenden,
C. Xingjing 兴京

Hetu Ala (English: Broad Hill; Chinese: Xingjing 兴京; also called Yenden in Manchu) was the first capital of the Qing, and one of the three capitals of the Manchu before the occupation of China proper, from 1603-1621. Nurhaci ordered its construction in 1603 and used it as his headquarters until the capital moved to Mukden (Shenyang) in 1625. It was also the place of residence of Nurhaci’s ancestors. ✕

A yellow label summarizing the journey
was pasted on the very last page of the map.

Gemun hecen ci Enteheme Munggan de isinarangge. Orin ninggun Dedun. Emu minggan sunja tanggū orin Ba. Enteheme Munggan ci gemun hecen de isinjirangge.. Gūsin dedun. Emu minggan ninggun tanggū juwan Emu ba. Amasi julesi uheri susai ninggun Dedun. Uheri ilan minggan emu tanggū Gūsin Emu ba..

“The way from the imperial capital to the eternal tombs counts twenty-six overnight stations, and 1,520 li. The way from the eternal tombs to the capital counts thirty overnight stations, and 1,611 li. Out and back, there are 56 overnight stations and a total of 3,131 li.” This text, like the succession of sheets preceding it, summarizes the route the emperor traveled to the imperial graves. The total numbers of overnight stations and li covered out and back thus complete the illustration of the spatial and temporal scope of the journey. The eastern tours, like all other tours, led to the production of poems, steles, architectural works, and cartographic records, such as the 1778 Map of the Day and Night Stations to Mukden. Although court painters who accompanied the southern tours produced monumental scrolls, no comparable paintings were made for the eastern tours. The records of opulent paintings associated with the southern tours to the Jiangnan area projected grand imperial power to the larger world, while these types of record of the eastern tours to the imperial tombs were created as intimate accounts of internal imperial affairs.