Wood Bookcase to Imperial Notes of the Wen-yuan Pavilion Compiled by the Ch'ien-lung Emperor (r. 1736-1795),    Ch'ing Dynasty Dated 1774         In 1773, the Ch'ien-lung Emperor ordered court officials to create a compilation of all the books in the Four Treasuries. Such an immense project required a library to house them. Therefore, four pavilions were built, and the Wen-yuan Pavilion, one of them, was located in the Forbidden City. The emperor wrote a record of about 400 large characters for the pavilion in 1774. Construction began in 1775 and was completed the next year. To complement the emperor's grand writing, an elaborate mounting was created using sandalwood for the bookcase. On it is carved a pair of dragons and clouds along with the title of the book running down the middle. The carving is exceptionally detailed, and the forms are very lively.