Imperial workshops, or Palace Workshops, (造辦處 zaobanchu) were first established during the Kangxi emperor's reign in 1680 around the Forbidden City and Yuanmingyuan palace. Imperial workshops was one place where technocratic culture was formed. They were established for the maintenance and creation of objects for the imperial family or ceremonial functions of the court but they also thrived as an area of artistic production as artisans and craftsmen from all over China, Asia, and even overseas (Jesuits from Europe) came into contact with each other. In addition, official workshops were established in certain provinces and the court continued to send out orders to those workshops, making certain areas well-known for their production of a single type of handicraft. The first forty years of the imperial workshop system is unknown due to a lack of archives, but some aspects can be constructed from material evidence of the objects that were produced. Under the reign of the Yongzheng emperor (1723-1735), imperial workshops became better rationalized and organized as different offices were established to maximize operational capacity.
