The Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand and the Chinese journalist Hsiao Ch’ien (Xiao Qian) were both in London at the same time during World War Two. They lived quite close – Anand in Primrose Hill, Hsiao in Belsize Park, and they both worked on the Eastern Service of the BBC with many notable names, including Orwell (who was good friends with Anand. They became friends. In 1945 Anand published a novel, The Big Heart…
first edition
‘The theme of the novel is the conflict between hereditary copper smiths and the capitalists. It is a novel about a village of artisans in Amritsar District in the early 1940s whose livelihood is destroyed by the establishment of a factory producing copper utensils…The story ends with the machine emerging the winner over human.’
Interestingly Anand chose to dedicate the novel to Hsiao and ‘the friendship of India and China.’
Any fans of the 1930s Peking aesthetes with a bit of cash to spare my find this the perfect Christmas gift…
Inscribed to Cecil Beaton
PEONIES AND PONIES A NOVEL.
Acton, Harold:
London: Chatto & Windus, 1941. Gilt cloth. Spine cocked, binding a bit darkened and handsoiled, a few spots to the top edge with a bit of bleed to the top edge of the front endsheets, some light foxing and creasing to a few corners, but a good copy, without dust jacket. Item #WRCAM85435
First edition. An association copy of a high order, inscribed by the author on the front free endsheet to his contemporary, friend and fellow “Bright Young Thing,” Cecil Beaton: “To my dear friend Cecil, the brilliant perpetuator of Paquita Gossamer’s charms (see p. 288) with much love from Harold.” The reference on p.288 is to a film star and hostess of late-night parties on the roof of the Peiping Palace Hotel, who has promised Freddie Follicle, social editor of the PEIPING STAR BULLETIN, “an autographed ‘study’ of herself in SEMIRAMIS by Cecil Beaton.” A few smudges on that page suggest that Beaton turned to it more than once. The first impression consisted of 1250 copies.
My latest Long Read for the South China Morning Post history of the one-time verdant and mountainous islands (now mostly landfill) of Dom João, Montanha and Lapa – later Xiao Hengqin, Da Hengqin and Wanzai – between Macao and Guangdong for the South China Morning Post Weekend Magazine – sorry, it’s paywalled, if anyone is a Hengqin fan email and i’ll send a pdf….
An interesting piece in Zolima magazine on Hong Kong’s Chinese YMCA’s Bridges Street Centre building and its architect Harry Hussey, who was also involved with the YMCAs in Shanghai and the Peking Union Medical Building in Peking as well as having one of the best hutong homes of all time (see my post on that here).
In case you happen to be in Beijing the Destination Peking Walking Tour – Aesthetes, Authors, Scholars & Spies – happened again recently and will do some more if people want to. it’s organised by Bespoke Beijing, led by Jeremiah Jenne and based on my book from Blacksmith Books, Destination Peking…
The Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) China is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 26th November at 7 p.m. RAS China will be ratifying new and incumbent Council Members for the 2021–22 term at the AGM. The AGM will begin in the Teddy Lounge on the third floor of the House of Roosevelt.
They will also be launching the 2021 RAS Journal in the RAS Library next to the lounge with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Non-members are welcome to the event subject to an entrance fee (which is refundable upon joining RAS membership during the evening) and to availability as per our space limitations. We hope you will come along to engage with the RAS Community, meet some new friends and enjoy our lovely Library.
As a short teaser i’ll add that my contribution to this year’s Journal is an appreciation of the seriously underappreciated pulp novel China Coaster (1952) by Don Smith….
Lin Xinwu’s The Wedding Party (translated by Jeremy Tiang) is a lovely evocation of early 1980s Beijing hutong life…
On a December morning in 1982, the courtyard of a Beijing siheyuan―a lively quadrangle of homes―begins to stir. Auntie Xue’s son Jiyue is getting married today, and she is determined to make the day a triumph. Despite Jiyue’s woeful ignorance in matters of the heart―and the body. Despite a chef in training tasked with the onerous responsibility of preparing the banquet. With a cross-generational multitude of guests, from anxious family members to a fretful bridal party―not to mention exasperating friends, interfering neighbors, and wedding crashers―what will the day ahead bring?
Set at a pivotal point after the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Liu Xinwu’s tale weaves together a rich tapestry of characters, intertwined lives, and stories within stories. The Wedding Party is a touching, hilarious portrait of life in this singular city, all packed into a Beijing courtyard on a single day that manages to be both perfectly normal and utterly extraordinary at the same time.
Now, i’m not a gun expert so i might have got a lot wrong here, but here goes and i’m sure any gun experts out there will add/correct me. As readers of my book City of Devils will know the Mauser C-96 (The “Red Nine” in English in Shanghai and the the “Box Cannon”, presumably due to its look, in Chinese) was the preferred weapon on many late 1930s/1940s Shanghai gangsters. It crops up all the time in newspaper and police reports. The Mauser C96 was a semi-automatic pistol originally produced by the German arms manufacturer, Mauser, between 1896 to 1937. However, crucially many unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in China. In China it often came fitted with a detachable wooden shoulder stock – a “broom-handle grip”.
I knew from my research that they were often warn under the arm in a holster, but had never seen an example of this. I was looking at some pictures the other day and was able to zoom in on this guy – who excellently displays a shoulder holster and a Mauser. This picture is from about 1939. I’m not sure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy, but I wouldn’t get on the wrong side of him to make him draw that thing!…
