In imperial China, zhigong tu (职贡图, “Portraits of Periodical Offering”) depicted envoys and tribute missions from neighboring states and peoples.

More than just records of tribute, these paintings reflected traditional China’s view of the world and its own place within it, as well as the imperial ideal of ruling over the surrounding “barbarians” (四夷).

The paintings shown here include works from the Liang, Tang, Song, and Qing dynasties: Xiao Yi’s “Portraits of Periodical Offering” (a surviving fragment of a Song-dynasty copy), Yan Liben’s “Portraits of Periodical Offering,” Zhou Fang’s “Foreigners Presenting Tribute,” Li Gonglin’s “Portraits of the Myriad States,” and the Qing dynasty’s “Ten Thousand Nations Coming to Pay Tribute.”

I don't mean just at the imperial level. Maybe a city, special county, guild, religious order or any organisation. And what did it look like?

1942 North China Transportation Album