Emperor Kangxi compiled the Jade Book in 1661 to commemorate Shi Zu (1644-1661), his recently deceased grandfather and founding father of the Qing dynasty. The "book" is comprised of a series of ten jade tablets, each weighing approximately one pound, which are strung together with yellow silk straps. The text is engraved in blue and gold: tablets two through four are written in Chinese, while tablets five through nine contain similar text in Manchu. The first and last tablets present identical designs of two dragons in gold. At one time, the case and tablets were housed in the ancestral hall of the imperial family in Beijing.
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