While copper-printing can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty in China, the art of copper-engraving was introduced by the Italian missionary, Matteo Ripa, in 1711. The first work to be printed with this new technique was Illustrations of 36 Vista ofthejehol Palace (1712). The Qianlong emperor wanted pictures of his military campaigns in Eastern Turkestan engraved on copper, and so he arranged for a series of sixteen engravings to be executed in Europe. Following the success of this initiative, pictures of his subsequent military exploits were engraved on copper by Chinese artists. Thus, while the West learned a great deal from China about paper and printing, copper-engraving is a technique which China acquired from the West in spite of a supposed lack of interest in the West.