The Ch'ing dynasty was established and ruled by the Manchu people. Originally viewed as "a small tribe of no significance", their entrance into and rule over China for more than 300 years can be traced back to the decision of their ancestors to embrace traditional Chinese culture. They fervently collected, organized, and preserved artifacts, treating them with care and attention. Many of the notions and techniques that they adopted are actually not unrelated to those used today. In particular, the Manchu devoted considerably energy to compiling books. The scale of these projects was large, being likened to modern-day encyclopedic "databases". There were also books on painting and calligraphy compiling basic information akin to that of museum catalogues. Illustrated manuals comparable to Hui-tsung's Hsüan-ho po-ku t'u (Illustrated Hsüan-ho Antiquities) of the Sung dynasty in format and style were made for a variety of objects. These cultural enterprises into which the country poured its resources left considerable influence in terms of their later manifestations and legacy.
       
Workshops were established at the palaces and searches were made for capable craftsmen throughout the land to produce objects required by the court. For this reason, the taste (and even the character) of the emperor had a great influence on the development of arts and crafts produced at the time. In addition to leading trends, on an even deeper level was the imperial press for research and innovation to develop new fields of art.