westerners

In the twenty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign, Westerners presented eighteen copper-made robots as tribute to the imperial court. These eighteen robots were capable of performing the play “The West Chamber.”

Each of these robots was a little over a foot tall, and their bodies, ears, eyes, hands, and feet were all made of copper. They had mechanisms connecting their hearts, stomachs, kidneys, intestines, etc., similar to the construction of a self-playing clock.