內務府為清代的官僚機構之一，其主要成員係由上三旗包衣旗人員組成，以服務皇帝及其家人為根本的職責。康熙（1662－1722）年間，內務府在紫禁城內成立了造辦處，為宮廷從事生活用物與工藝美術品的製作。

乾隆（1736－1795）年間有不少內務府的官員被派到地方上任職，有助於宮廷獲得工藝品、與工藝品相關的知識與資訊、製造工藝品的物料與工匠；另一方面，為了遷就物料與專家，內務府也時而將皇帝旨意擬作的器物交付地方上成做。外派或外任的內務府官員一般都曾長期供事宮廷，瞭解內務府的規矩與皇帝的癖好，因此透過他們的溝通或監督，皇帝的工藝需求比較能圓滿實現。此種作法，在康熙年間以來已經見諸施行，但是要到雍正（1723－1735）末、乾隆初以後才完全制度化，並且擴大實施。

The Imperial Household Department is one of the bureaucratic apparatus of the Qing dynasty. It is composed of the bondservants belonging to the Upper Three Banners and its fundamental function is to serve the imperial household. In the course of the Kangxi (1662-1722) period, the department set up an Imperial Workshop (zaobanchu, 造辦處) to make works of art and handicraft articles in accordance with the emperor’s orders.

During the Qianlong’s reign (1736-1795), quite a few imperial bondservants were dispatched to provincial metropolis either on special missions or to take up certain bureaucratic positions. In both ways, they took opportunity to find objets d’arts, knowledge about them, as well as materials and artisans and artists to make them. Furthermore, the Imperial Workshop also commissioned these bondservants to carry out imperial order of making specific objects.

Those who were sent to the provincial metropolis had always had working experience before in the Imperial Workshop for a long span of time, hence were well versed in handling imperial taste and hobby. Through the good office of them, the emperor’s wishes were always duly met. Such kind of practices first came to light in Emperor Kangxi’s reign, but it was not formalized and expanded in scale until after the late Yongzheng (1723-1735) and early Qianlong periods.

內務府; 包衣; 造辦處; 工藝; 外任; 南匠; 織造; 鹽政; 關差

Imperial Household Department; bondservants; Imperial Workshop; works of art and handicraft articles; provincial positions; artisans from the South; textile commissioner; salt censor; superintendent of customs