Source priority
We prefer museum collection records, digitised historical texts, archival records, scholarly books and peer-reviewed research. General web pages may help locate a source but do not become evidence merely because they repeat a familiar interpretation.
Boundaries matter
A record supports the object, period, place and medium it actually describes. We do not use one Qing court object to explain every folk design, or present a later Mandarin pun as a universal rule for all regions and periods.
Museum and archival images
When a collection image appears, the caption should name the institution and object and link to the source record where possible. Rights statements belong to the source institution and are checked separately from the age of the object.
Editorial illustrations
Original illustrations and redrawings help readers recognise composition, count repeated motifs or compare forms. They are labelled as editorial images and are not presented as historical artefacts. A redraw may simplify texture, but it must not invent an unsupported symbol or relationship.
Generated and composited images
If image-generation tools assist an editorial illustration, the result is reviewed for historical inventions, malformed characters, wrong quantities and misleading object combinations. Text that must be exact is set and checked separately where appropriate.
Permissions and concerns
For a source correction, image credit issue or rights request, use the working address on the contact page and identify the exact page and image.