A Chinese military manuscript map depicting the mouth of the Yangzi River扬子江, showing the cities Zhenjiang镇江, Changzhou常州, Suzhou苏州, and Shanghai上海. Thousands of houses with red flags are shown, with the names of military units written in Chinese. Mountains are depicted pictorially and shaded in green. Most prominently marked are the prefectures, which are emphatically circled and shaded in red. In particular, the Suzhou prefecture and many other administrative units are conspicuously shown in the largest square at the centre of the map. Barracks can be identified by names ending with ying"营", marked with red rectangles at various positions on the map. For example, Suzhou ying "苏州营" is directly below the prominent Suzhou prefecture. An inset plan in the lower left corner shows an overview of this map on a grid. The left side of the grid is labelled with the scale "每方二十里" (lit. "every square is measured by twenty li"), approximately 1 : 10000 meters.

The three identical red seals on the map stand as signs of authority and authenticity, as well as indicating the history and function of the map. The characters in the seal read vertically from right to left: Yingguo hui dai changshengjun guanfang "英國會帶常勝軍關防" ("the seal of the Ever Victorious Army under the British command"). The final two characters (Guanfang 關防, literal meaning "border control") refer to a type of seal that was unique to military use. The most critical information contained on the map lies in the preceding three characters: changshengjun "常勝軍". They refer to "The Ever Victorious Army", formed in the late Qing dynasty to fight against the rebels of the civil war, known as the Taiping Rebellion.
The Taiping Rebellion was a source of radical religious and political upheaval in China from 1850 to 1864, as the heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan 洪秀全 (1814-1864) led the Taiping army against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. The army initially pressed north into Hunan 湖南 following the Xiang River湘江, besieging Changsha长沙, Yuezhou岳州, and Wuchang武昌after reaching the Yangtze River扬子江in 1852. By 1860, the Taiping forces defeated the imperial troops and captured Nanjing南京. This victory was followed by a successful invasion of southern Jiangsu江苏 and Zhejiang浙江 provinces, as well as the wealthy cities of Hangzhou杭州, Changzhou常州 and Suzhou苏州. With the capture of Suzhou in June, 1860, Shanghai was faced with a deadly menace, and only a month later, the Taiping rebels attacked the city.
At this juncture, The Ever Victorious Army held off rebel attacks on Shanghai and helped to defend other treaty ports, such as Ningbo宁波, aiding imperial troops in reconquering Taiping strongholds along the Yangtze River. The Army had been founded in 1861 as a conglomeration of French, Indian, and Chinese troops serving the Emperor. A New England (American) shipmaster, Frederick Townsend Ward (1831-1862) was commissioned to lead the Army. Ward introduced radical ideas involving force structure, training, discipline, and weaponry, and led his troops in many engagements against the Taiping and was killed in action near Ningbo 宁波in 1862.
Shortly after Ward's death, the command of the Army was passed to Charles George Gordon (1833-1885), famously known as "Chinese Gordon". Under Gordon, the Ever Victorious Army collaborated with the Chinese Imperial forces to bring the Taiping Rebellion to an end, with several decisive battles. This narrative corresponds precisely with the first characters on the seal: yingguo "英國" (Britain) hui dai "會帶" (unify and lead) changshengjun"常勝軍" (The Ever Victorious Army). Evidently, the map was commissioned under Gordon's command of the Ever Victorious Army.

"Chinese" Gordon.
Gordon was part of the joint Anglo-French embassy sent to China in July 1860 to impel the imperial government to ratify the Treaty of Tianjin. By the time Gordon reached China, the country was in the midst of the Taiping Rebellion. As a member of the Royal Engineers, he was tasked with constructing new living quarters for the troops who were left behind at Tianjin to enforce the now-ratified treaty.
After his time at Tianjin, Gordon was sent to Shanghai, where he was in charge of the detachment of Engineers who fought in the Taiping Rebellion during 1863. With the advancing rebels threatening the tenuous peace and economic stability achieved by the treaty, Gordon undertook a further overhaul of the army. He introduced discipline, standardised pay and uniforms among his ranks, and established authority in front of his soldiers, creating a powerful unified fighting force. He proved an invaluable leader, and promised to rid China of the Taiping rebels within eighteen months. Indeed, his military improvements led to a series of victories. By the end of April 1863, the Army had won several battles and reclaimed many cities and towns, until only Suzhou and Changzhou remained rebel strongholds. After a two-month siege organised by Gordon, Suzhou was captured, and he led the victorious army into Changzhou. China was under control of the Imperial Emperor once more.