L. Newton Hayes, The Chinese Dragon
The bronze dragon and the imperial observatory
Hayes presents the dragon as part of the material equipment of astronomy. His caption connects this bronze casting with the imperial court and the instruments made by a Jesuit priest at that court. The photograph concentrates on the creature’s raised head, open mouth and curling body; the instrument belongs to a working observatory as well as to an ornamental tradition.
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In the sources
An instrument at court
DocumentedThe caption attributes the instrument to the Kang Hsi period and credits it to a Jesuit priest at that court.
Ornament and measurement
InterpretationThe plate brings astronomical measurement and dragon imagery into one physical object.
Context & interpretation
The illustration and accompanying passage on the cited page of The Chinese Dragon.
Original passages
Source 1
The Chinese Dragon
Bronze Dragon, Kang Hsi PeriodOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Illustration and accompanying passage
Quotation and accompanying passage individually checked against the exact original page image. Line breaks and line-end hyphenation normalised. Caption small capitals normalised to title case.
- Edition
- IMJ-0474-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0474-E001-P0003
- Original scan leaf
- 7
- Recorded leaf number
- 7
- Current Reader position
- 2
- Reader verification
- Matches the reviewed Reader
