Buddhism first arrived in China via the Silk Route in the 1st century AD. From the 14th century, China was strongly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism with its many deities, brightly-coloured banners and paintings and elaborately decorated ritual vessels.

During the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736-95), Tibet was conquered by China. This led to a renewal of interest in Tibetan Buddhist ideas, buildings and art. The emperor built a series of Tibetan-style palaces at the Manchu summer resort of Jehol (modern Chengde) and commissioned richly decorated pieces of Buddhist regalia (implements used in ceremonies) for them. Tibetan Buddhism continued to be fashionable in China through the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Tibetan Buddhist mandala, a symbolic representation of the universe usually taking the form of a square within a circle, was often shown on banners, in paintings and sculpture. It was used as a tool for meditation. Costly enamel mandalas were very popular under the Qianlong emperor. Among the works of art commissioned for his summer palaces, was a series of three-dimensional mandalas in the form of a miniature building made in cloisonné enamel. Many of these pieces were decorated with Buddhist symbols, like the Wheel of the Law, the Conch Shell (the voice of the Buddha), the Lotus (purity) or the Endless Knot (the unity of all things).