All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French
A rather curious little item of Shanghai Race Club nostalgia – A 1930s silver pin dish with central enamel plaque for Shanghai Race Club, dated 1938-39:
Living asnd Working in Wartime China covers the years of Japanese invasion during World War II from 1937 to 1945, this essay collection recounts Chinese experiences of living and working under conditions of war. Each of the regimes that ruled a divided China―occupation governments, Chinese Nationalists, and Chinese Communists―demanded and glorified the full commitment of the people and their resources in the prosecution of war. Through stories of both everyday people and mid-level technocrats charged with carrying out the war, this book brings to light the enormous gap between the leadership’s demands and the reality of everyday life. Eight long years of war exposed the unrealistic nature of elite demands for unreserved commitment. As the political leaders faced numerous obstacles in material mobilization and retreated to rhetoric of spiritual resistance, the Chinese populace resorted to localized strategies ranging from stoic adaptation to cynical profiteering, articulated variously with touches of humor and tragedy.
These localized strategies are examined through stories of people at varying classes and levels of involvement in living, working, and trying to work through the war under the different regimes. In less than a decade, millions of Chinese were subjects of disciplinary regimes that dictated the celebration of holidays, the films available for viewing, the stories told in tea houses, and the restrictions governing the daily operations and participants of businesses―thus impacting the people of China for years to come. This volume looks at the narratives of those affected by the war and regimes to understand perspectives of both sides of the war and its total outcomes. Living and Working in Wartime China depicts the brutal micromanaging of ordinary lives, devoid of compelling national purposes, that both undercut the regimes’ relationships with their people and helped establish the managerial infrastructure of authoritarian regimes in subsequent postwar years.
A third portrait atttributed to Tingqua (or his studio) – see Macao’s Porto Exterior here and the Canton Factories here. This one is a half length portrait of Wu Bingjian (Howqua/Houqua), Canton, circa 1840/50 seated holding beads in his left hand, wearing a plush purple, fur lined robe with civil rank badge of a Crane, his lower blue garment with a gold dragon, within a hand painted European style border, the quality of which would lead one to assign an attribution it to the Tingqua studio, watercolour, 22cm x 18.5cm.
Another (I posted one on Macao yesterday) gouache on paper by Tingqua – the Factories at Canton….
According to Christie’s: ‘The artist and miniaturist known as Tingqua (1809-1870) was Guan Lianchang, now thought to be the fourth son of Spoilum and a younger brother of Lamqua. He specialised in works on paper, unlike his father and brother who worked in oils. His studio flourished from the 1820s through to the 1860s. Tingqua’s own work is distinguished by its very fine quality, and works are attributed to him, or to his studio artists, on that basis.’
A lovely gouache on paper by Tingqua – the Porto Exterior at Macao….
According to Christie’s: ‘The artist and miniaturist known as Tingqua (1809-1870) was Guan Lianchang, now thought to be the fourth son of Spoilum and a younger brother of Lamqua. He specialised in works on paper, unlike his father and brother who worked in oils. His studio flourished from the 1820s through to the 1860s. Tingqua’s own work is distinguished by its very fine quality, and works are attributed to him, or to his studio artists, on that basis.’
Join photographer Nick Kitto showing his photographs and telling stories from the Treaty Ports of China–the buildings and the people .
WHAT: an RASBJ on-line talk by Nick Kitto, moderated by Lukas Gajdos, based on Nick Kitto’s book Trading Places, A Photographic Journey Through China’s Former Treaty Ports.
WHEN: November 23,Wednesday, 7.00PM-8.00PM Beijing Standard Time
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: The talk encompasses Nick Kitto’s Treaty Port Project.
Nick will describe how his interest in treaty ports arose, his approach to the Project, the quality of the restorations, and then take a look at two of the lesser known treaty ports, both of which involved some members of his family.
The goal of The Treaty Port Project was simple: to visit as many of the former treaty ports and foreign settlements as possible and to photograph as many of the surviving buildings from that era as possible. The Project commenced in 2008 and ended, at least for now, 12 years later with the publication in 2020 of Trading Places, A Photographic Journey Through China’s Former Treaty Ports. From a collection of some 4,000 images, approximately 750 were chosen for the book and relatively more pages were devoted to those from the lesser known ports rather than the larger and better known such as Shanghai and Tianjin. A secondary but important objective was to ensure that the buildings could be located by those interested in doing so. Due to space limitations, the maps in the book are of limited use and, consequently, the book’s rear sleeve contains a QR code which allows readers to locate every building in the book, and a few more besides.
HOW MUCH: This online event is free for RASBJ members, and members of partner RAS branches; RMB 100 for non-members. If you know someone who wants to join RASBJ to attend this talk, please ask them to sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership/ at least 72 hours before the event.
HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Members of RASBJ, -please click “Register” or “I Will Attend” at least 48 hours before the event, and follow the instructions. After successful registration, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.
Members of partner RAS branches: Please register at least 72 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. After successful registration, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.
An author Q&A i did with travel writer Colin Thubron on the recent release of the paperback version of his book The Amur: Between Russia and China. This was for the China-Britain Business Council’s Focus magazine – click here…
Cao Yin’s Chinese Sojourners in Wartime Raj (I’m not sure why there’s no ‘the’ in there?) looks fascinating…
Since the outbreak of the Pacific War, British India had been taken as the main logistic base for China’s war against the Japanese. Chinese soldiers, government officials, professionals, and merchants flocked into India for training, business opportunities, retreat, and rehabilitation. This book is about how the activities of the Chinese sojourners in wartime India caused great concerns to the British colonial regime and the Chinese Nationalist government alike and how these sojourners responded to the surveillance, discipline, and check imposed by the governments. This book provides a subaltern perspective on the history of modern India-China relations that has been dominated by accounts of elite cultural interaction and geopolitical machination.