Creators of Modern China (British Museum): 100 Lives from Empire to Republic 1796-1912

Posted: May 11th, 2023 | No Comments »

Timed to appear to coincide with the new China’s Hidden Century exhibition at the British Museum that starts in May (here), Creators of Modern China, edited by Jessica Harrison-Hall and Julia Lovell have compiled 100 biographies of key figures of the late Qing Dynasty.

This book sprang from a simple but original ambition: to provide an understanding – told through the lives of 100 significant individuals – of how China transformed from dynastic empire to a modern, republican nation during the period 1796 to 1912.

Both famous and surprisingly little-known women and men are brought together in eight thematic sections that illuminate the birth of modern China. Featured figures include the Dowager Empress Cixi, the power behind the throne of the Qing dynasty for fifty years; Yu Rongling, who is regarded as the founder of modern dance in China and who trained in Paris with Isadora Duncan; Duanfang, China’s first serious collector of international art before being murdered by his own troops in the 1911 Revolution that destroyed the Qing dynasty; Shi Yang, the greatest woman pirate in the world who is now celebrated in popular culture as a powerful feminine icon; Luo Zhenyu, the ‘father’ of Chinese archaeology whose discoveries confirmed the antiquity of Chinese civilization; and many others.

Written by a large team of specialists, this book breathes life into China’s history and international relations, providing multiple insights into the history of this vast country and its role on the world stage.

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