All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French
International Women’s Day seems a good time to remember the so-called “Amazon Brigade” that formed to fight for the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1912….(click on it and the image should go larger)
The news that Palmer House in Singapore may be partially or wholly destroyed to build a MTR station is worrying. The former YMCA Metropolitan building, originally built in 1954, was sold in the late 1990s and renamed Palmer House. It is an excellent example of Streamline Moderne, a minimalistic architectural style that abandoned the sometime lavish and ostentatious decoration of the Art Deco movement in favour of simple, functional lines. Streamline Moderne is one of Singapore’s remaining architectural styles and perhaps the best Asian city for this type of architecture, any serious stroll around the city will see examples of it (though some have been destroyed). It is very important that Singapore recognise that heritage and keep it and not just deride it as post-war and not historic….
Singapore still retains a good crop of Streamline Moderne buildings that, together, offer an almost unique look at this architectural style – any lover of art deco should appreciate it as the later period and seeks its preservation…the examples below are a few favourites, but not in any way an exhaustive list…just punch “Streamline Moderne Singapore” into google image and you’ll find plenty more…
Tiong Bahru flats developed prior to WW2 – the blocks along Guan Chuan Street and Chay Yan Streets were nicknamed the “Aeroplane blocksâ€.
Block 78 was known as Tiong Bahru Gor Lau (“5-story flat†in Hokkien). It was the highest public housing in Singapore when built in the late 1930s.
traditional shophouse culture meets Streamline Moderne in Tiong Bahru
and the threatened Palmer House
With most homes still not having their own boilers in 1936 hot water peddlars were a common site in Shanghai…but the question was, “How much is hot water worth?” Seems everyone disagreed and so uniform pricing had to be introduced – 29 pounds, by the way, is just over 13 litres (or 9 gallons US/8 gallons UK)…
Talking of 1912 last week I thought I might show this picture too…the New York headquarters of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Most newspaper accounts simply give the address as “Chinatown, NYC” but Scott Seligman, who has a great book coming out soon on New York’s Tong Wars, tells me the address was 12 Mott Street and often referred to as “Chinese Revolutionary HQ”. Scott also tells me that Dr. Sun did stay in the building at some point in 1911.
The building is still there – as you can see it is now the Jun Hair Salon, the slightly lower of the three buildings in the middle….
Andrew Hicks will be talking about his book (this coming Wednesday) on the Friends Ambulance Unit China Convoy between 1945 and 1951…..
Meredith Oyen’s Diplomacy of Migration looks interesting…and a great cover!
See a review here on the Taipei Times site…
During the Cold War, both Chinese and American officials employed a wide range of migration policies and practices to pursue legitimacy, security, and prestige. They focused on allowing or restricting immigration, assigning refugee status, facilitating student exchanges, and enforcing deportations. The Diplomacy of Migration focuses on the role these practices played in the relationship between the United States and the Republic of China both before and after the move to Taiwan. Meredith Oyen identifies three patterns of migration diplomacy: migration legislation as a tool to achieve foreign policy goals, migrants as subjects of diplomacy and propaganda, and migration controls that shaped the Chinese American community.
Using sources from diplomatic and governmental archives in the United States, the Republic of China on Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China, and the United Kingdom, Oyen applies a truly transnational perspective. The Diplomacy of Migration combines important innovations in the field of diplomatic history with new international trends in migration history to show that even though migration issues were often considered “low stakes” or “low risk” by foreign policy professionals concerned with Cold War politics and the nuclear age, they were neither “no risk” nor unimportant to larger goals. Instead, migration diplomacy became a means of facilitating other foreign policy priorities, even when doing so came at great cost for migrants themselves.
Pelican, the old non-fiction imprint of Penguin is back and publishing again. The original creation of the Pelican imprint along was in May 1937, two years after Penguin’s founding. The first title published under the Pelican name was George Bernard Shaw’s The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism & Fascism, in two volumes. There were thousands of titles published under the Pelican name over nearly 50 years. The series tackled everything from political uprisings and scientific exploration to religion across the globe and sociological practices and taboos. After a slow decline, Penguin eventually discontinued the imprint in the late 80s. Then on May 1st, 2014 Pelican books took flight for a second time with the release of five new titles, till minimalist blue and boasting the Pelican logo.
And China did feature in the old Pelican line up…(and if I missed any then do let me know?)
1942
1954
1958
1958
1966
1967
1968
1968
1968
1970
1971
1972
1972
1973
1974
