Fig. 1. J. M. Whistler: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, showing blue and white china, 1876–1877. Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.

Fig. 2. Ritual Disc with Dragon Motifs (Bi), Henan Province (771–256 BCE) Jade, Eastern Zhou dynasty, William Rockhill Nelson Trust, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.

Fig. 3. Heavy Gold Buckle with Inset Jade Dragon ,4th–3rd century BCE, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

Fig. 4. Bodhisattva, Eastern Wei dynasty, ca. 530 CE, carved limestone, excavated from the White House Monastery at Luoyang, gift of Denman Ross in memory of Okakura Kakuzo, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Fig. 5. Offering Procession of Empress as Donor with Her Court, from Longmen, Binyang Central Cave, ca. 522 CE, Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534), William Rockhill Nelson Trust, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.

Fig. 6. Imperial Manchu Man’s Semiformal Court Robe (1850–1875 CE), woven silk with metal thread tapestry, gift of James P. Grant and Betty Grant Austin, Denver Art Museum.

Fig. 7. Silk Tapestry with Dragons and Flowers (1100–1200 CE), Eastern Central Asia, curated by James Watt, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fig. 8. Coat of a Mandarin for Summer, as described by Berthold Laufer, who purchased it in Shanghai in 1901, American Museum of Natural History.

Fig. 9. Burial Figure of a Horse, Northern Wei dynasty, Henan Province, molded earthenware, George Crofts Collection, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Fig. 10. Ritual Vessel in Shape of a Rhinoceros, ca. 1100–1050 BCE, bronze, Shandung province, Shang dynasty, Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.

Fig. 11. Gilt Bronze Buddha Maitreya, dated 486 CE, acquired for the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Bosch Reitz in 1926.

Fig. 12. Finches & Bamboo handscroll, painting and calligraphy by Emperor Huizong, Northern Song dynasty, formerly in John M. Crawford Jr. Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fig. 13. The Thirteen Emperors (detail), attributed to Yan Liben, Tang dynasty, ink and color on silk, Denman Ross Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Fig. 14. Lohans Feeding a Hungry Spirit, by Lin Tinggui, Southern Song dynasty, 1178 CE, ink and color on silk, Denman Ross Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Fig. 15. Xu Daoning, Fishermen’s Evening Song, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), William Rockhill Nelson Trust, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.

Fig. 16. Guanyin of the Southern Sea, wood with polychrome, Liao (907–1125) or Jin dynasty (1115–1234), William Rockhill Nelson Trust, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Mo.

Fig. 17. Carved lacquer dish, “Birds and Hollyhocks,” given to Metropolitan Museum of Art by Florence and Herbert Irving, in honor of James C. Y. Watt.