source of intellect and a window into the ideas of the European Enlightenment. According to Joanna Waley-Cohen, the Qianlong Emperor and Benoist conversed over various topics such as "Western science, philosophy, warfare, cartography, shipping, and navigational practices,” accentuating the cosmopolitan interests of the Qianlong Emperor. Many of Benoist's accomplishments have been documented by two authors: Louis Pfister (1833 - 1891), and Alphose Favier (1837 - 1905), a Catholic Bishop based in Beijing. Yuanming Yuan During the second year of his reign in 1737, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned Giuseppe Castiglione to construct multiple European-style pavilions (Xiyanglou) on the grounds of the Old Summer Palace. Michel Benoist oversaw the construction of Castiglione's designs, taking over construction following Castiglione's death in 1766, and helped design multiple parts of the palace. His studies in hydraulics were used for designing various fountains throughout the palace. His greatest achievement was the construction of a "water clock" in front of The Hall of Calm Seas, a building arguably based on the Court of Honor at Versailles. The clock consisted of a fountain basin surrounded by 12 statues depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac, with each zodiac associated with the 12 Chinese hours dictated by the Earthly Branches System. Using a hydraulic system designed by Benoist, each statue spewed water from the mouth of each animal for a consecutive hour, and was among the first water jet systems developed in China. World Map Benoist worked on numerous cartography projects for the Qianlong Emperor. His first cartography project was mapping out the territories of the Qing Empire and its borderlands, following up on previous work by Jesuits during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. Historian Mario Cams notes Benoist's maps visually incorporated distant territories such as Xinjiang into the boundaries and defined borderlands between Qing China, Mongolia, and Imperial Russia. Benoist then produced a large world map on the walls of Yuanming Yuan. The map helped familiarize the Qianlong Emperor with the geography of Europe and his empire, and according to historian Mark Elliott prepared the Emperor for the later arrival of the British Macartney Embassy in 1793. Astronomy Because of his training in astronomy, Benoist helped establish European studies of astronomy to Qing China. Historian Nathan Sivin notes that Benoist was the first to introduce Copernican cosmology in China "after the church's ban on Copernican cosmology ended in 1757." Benoist's presentation of Copernican theory stood in contrast