The giraffe shown being brought as tribute by an emissary in a painting by Shen Tu from 1414 is remarkably true to life. Written on top of the painting in Shen Tu's own hand is a poetic essay called "Auspiciously Receiving the Ch'ilin: A Paean with Preface." Shen Tu called the giraffe a ch'ilin, or Chinese unicorn.
明人沈度在永樂十二年（西元一四一四年）畫過一幅進貢圖，圖中的長頸鹿維妙維肖，由使者牽著。