A Trip to Shanghai in 1967 – “Down with British Imperialism”

Back in 2011 I blogged about the Blue Funnel Line. Chris Pownall read the post and sent me an amazing story of his trip to Shanghai and China in 1967 (Cultural Revolution times) and has agreed I can share here as I think many regular readers may find his impressions and memories of 1960s Shanghai of interest….

A Trip to Shanghai in 1967

I first visited Shanghai in July/August of 1967, whilst serving as a junior engineering officer aboard the S.S. Talthybius, belonging to the famous, Blue Funnel Line.
Talthybius was a Victory Ship built in 1944 by the Permenente Metals Corp (Shipyard No 1) located in Richmond, California. She had a gross weight of 7,671 tons, a length of 455 feet, and a beam of 62 feet. Her service speed was 15 knots, and she was powered by a three stage Westinghouse steam turbine. She was a type VC-S-AP2 Victory Ship, and she was launched as the S.S Salina Victory for the United States Maritime Commission in 1944. After WW2, Salina Victory was acquired by the Dutch Blue Funnel line and renamed S.S. Polydorus. In 1966 she was transferred to the British Blue Funnel line and again renamed, this time to S.S. Talthybius. All Blue Funnel ships were named after characters from Greek mythology.

We sailed from Birkenhead in June 1967, and because the Suez Canal was closed following the six day war between Israel and Egypt, we had to take a much longer route via South Africa and the ‘Cape of Good Hope’. We made numerous stops in the Far East before setting course for Shanghai.
As we entered the estuary of the Yangtze River, we were boarded by a number of ‘Red Guards’ who were to escort our ship for the duration of our visit. Prior to entering Chinese waters, our Captain had briefed us on how we should conduct ourselves and to remember at all times that we were representing our country; therefore, if we were to encounter any hostilities, we should always conduct ourselves like officers and gentlemen. We were instructed to leave everything inside our cabins unlocked, including our porthole that would normally be tightly secured, whilst we were in any port. All personal possessions had to be left inside a draw and we were assured that nothing would be stolen, whilst we were in China. Our personal radios and cameras were collected by the Chief Steward who locked them all away until our visit was completed. We would not be allowed to communicate with our families or friends, and we were asked to inform our next of kin that we would be incommunicado for at least five weeks.
From the Yangtze we steamed up the Huangpu River, where we were to lay off at a mooring buoy outside the port of Shanghai. We spent a couple of weeks before receiving a signal to go alongside to discharge our cargo of tin plate, which we had shipped from a steel mill in South Wales. When the ship berthed we could hear the sound of a loud voice coming from speakers attached to telegraph poles on the quay side. In very clear English the voice was making propaganda statements about the British such as “Down with British imperialism”. A sentry box was positioned at the bottom of the ships gangway, where a soldier stood to check the credentials of everyone boarding or leaving the ship. We were advised that shore leave would be permitted, but we would only be allowed to visit either the Seamen’s Mission or the Seamen’s Shop, located in nearby Shanghai. There was a procedure for leaving the ship, which involved advising the deck officer of the day that you wished to go ashore, and he would then request a car via the Chinese soldier on the quay-side. The car was always a black saloon provided free of charge by the Chinese authorities. I first visited the Seamen’s shop where you could buy wonderful things such as camphor wood chests and many items of craft ware. I purchased a couple of fine looking harmonica’s as presents for my two young nephews and I would have loved to take home a splendid blanket chest for my mother, but I had insufficient room inside my very small officers cabin in which to store one.
My next visit ashore was to the Seamen’s Mission, which boasted the longest bar in the world. It certainly was a very long bar, but all we could purchase was Shanghai beer, which was poured from pint sized bottles. It tasted very good but left me with a terrible headache, when I woke up the following morning. Having visited the only permitted venues ashore, I decide that once was sufficient and I would now look forward to our next port of call in Japan where there would be lots of nice girls to chat up!!

We had been in Shanghai for over a week, and I had just come off watch at 08.00am in the morning, when I was summoned to the Chief Engineers cabin. He informed me that I had been nominated along with three other officers to be guests of the Chinese government who had offered to entertain us for the day. I was very tired having just come off watch, as it was extremely hot down in the engine room at the height of the Shanghai summer. I had lost a lot of weight and was generally feeling quite weak. All I wanted to do was have a few beers, a good meal and go to my bed. The Chief would have none of it, he said I should go and get smartly dressed in civilian clothes and prepare for their arrival at 09.00am.
The four of us stood at the top of the gangway, when our hosts arrived, surprisingly in a coach capable of carrying, I guess 20 to 30 passengers. We boarded the coach and we were invited to sit alongside each other on the rear seat. There were two or three Chinese hosts who shook our hands and presented each of us with a copy of Mao Tse-Tungs famous Red Book. We were also given several Mao lapel badges, which we were asked to pin onto our shirts.
The coach set off and we turned several corners before it pulled up alongside a nearby Dutch vessel. A party of about twelve Dutch Merchant Navy seamen boarded the coach and I was amazed to see that a number of them had cameras slung over their shoulders. We had been informed by our Captain that photography in communist China was strictly forbidden that’s why all our cameras had been locked away, whilst we were visiting the country. Our Chinese hosts paid no attention to the cameras and following the welcoming formalities for the Dutch sailors, we set off for wherever they were to take us. We travelled out of the built up areas and into the surrounding countryside. We passed by a cotton plantation and then visited a number of paddy fields. It was very picturesque and interesting, but really hot on the coach and of course, there was no air conditioning in those days.

We headed back towards the city, whereupon we were taken to see an industrial exhibition intended to show the world some remarkable technical achievements in China under the stewardship of Chairman Mao. We saw a shiny red tractor that looked remarkably like a Massey Ferguson and a micron beam telescope through which we were invited to view a human hair. Needless to say the hair looked liked a tree trunk under such powerful magnification. We were then shown some steel pressure containers used to store high-pressure gases and a cigarette-manufacturing machine, which was discharging packets of twenty by the dozen. Finally, we were assembled in a conference room and given a presentation about the technical achievements in China during Chairman Mao’s term of office. It was very boastful and Mao’s name was repeated in almost every spoken sentence. Following the presentation we were given a cigarette, which tasted awful and a glass of water that was heavily chlorinated and quite offensive to the pallet. We felt we should have to drink the water so as not to offend our hosts, but a colleague muttered in my ear “don’t empty your glass otherwise they will fill it up again”.
Eventually, with great relief, we were back on the coach and told that we would now be returning to our respective ships as the tour was finished. On our way back to the dock area, we passed a recently constructed stadium that was a spectacular site with red flags hoisted all the way round the top of this impressive oval shaped structure. Our Dutch companions were learning out of the coach windows getting some splendid shots with their flashy cameras. Again, I couldn’t believe my eyes in view of the fact that photography was strictly forbidden, particularly so, at the height of the Cultural Revolution.
We passed beyond the stadium and we were approaching the entrance to the docks, when we heard the sound of claxon horns and very soon, we were overtaken by a number of military vehicles, which forced our coach to pull over and stop at the roadside. Soldiers with rifles were positioned around the coach, and our driver plus our Chinese hosts were physically man handled and driven off in another vehicle. A soldier came onto the coach and sat in driver’s seat but said nothing to any of us. You could hear a pin drop on the coach as it was obvious that we had been caught up in some awkward situation over which we had no control. Cigarettes were being lit one after another as we sat there wondering what would happen next. I was getting more and more anxious as it was beginning to get dark and I was due on watch at 17.00pm, but there was nothing I could do to return to the ship. We could see Talthybius in the distance and as darkness descended, you could see the funnel lights illuminating the famous black topped blue funnel. One of my colleagues went to the front of the coach and asked the soldier sat in the driver’s seat, why were we being detained. The soldier just waved his arms, suggesting that he should return to his seat. We were now very concerned about how this situation would end. All our cigarettes had now gone, and we were in desperate need of the toilet.
I guess in total we were held for several hours including at least one hour in total darkness. We then noticed a large saloon car pull up along side and four men in long coats got out and walked towards our coach. They came onboard and one asked if there were any British Officers present, to which we four on the rear seat shouted “here” .One of the guys approached us and asked if we were in possession of any cameras and of course we said “no”. He then apologised for our detention, and said we were free to leave and walk back to our ship. We were so relieved to get away, and it was wonderful to be back on board Talthybius. We were debriefed by the Chief Engineer and the Captain and I said that there was no way that I would get off the ship again until we arrived in Japan.
Several days later, we put to sea and I can clearly recall seeing the Red Guards leave the ship by means of the pilot boat. It was good to be free once again and now heading for some fun and freedom in a very different culture. Whilst I have been critical of the Chinese situation in 1967, I have been back to Shanghai numerous times in a business capacity. I have been fortunate to travel to many of China’s major cities and I now have a very different view to the one back in 1967. They are very nice people, hard working, and exceptionally innovative. Since my retirement, I have returned to Shanghai on vacation with my wife Pat. We had a wonderful time and hope to revisit at some stage.

Approximately one year ago, I received an email from a guy in New Zealand who said he had been searching the Internet and whilst browsing the ‘Blue Funnel Association’ website, he had seen my blog posting. He was the guy who was sat next to me on that coach all those years ago. He asked whether I remembered him, to which I responded, “Please read my memoirs ‘Funny How Things Work Out’ and you are in there”!! He reminded me of a catch phrase that I started on that voyage, and he quoted it in his email. I am in the process of completing a third and final biographical work, and the title will be that catch phrase ‘This is the Life’. It would be nice if I could meet up with him at some stage, as we now keep in touch. Having spent many hours trying to trace any fellow crew members on that memorable voyage, all to no avail, I was thrilled beyond belief when he contacted me.
You never know what you’ll find in the inbox, and isn’t it exciting?

Copyright – Chris R. Pownall 07/06/13

Ballard’s Shanghai and Empire of the Sun’s 30th Anniversary

As this is the 30th anniversary of JG Ballard’s Empire of the Sun and the Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece on Ballard’s Shanghai, a reprise of some previous Ballard and Ballard’s Shanghai China Rhyming posts here that may be of interest….

A series exploring Columbia Road (Ballard’s old street- now Panyu Road), Columbia Circle and Amherst Road (Xinhua Road) in Western Shanghai….

Hudec’s House

Amherst Road’s old garages

Lane 215 Columbia Road

the old Bank of China Club

The Xinhua Guest House

The Baron’s House – Columbia Circle

Columbia Circle’s blueprints

And…

Ballard on the Park Hotel, Bubbling Well Road (Nanjing West Road)

The Old Lunghua Airfield

Empire of the Sun covers over the years

Why Empire of the Sun was Important

Boris Kustodiev’s Portrait of Nikolai Milioti, 1916

A quick trip to St Petersburg yielded a few China Rhyming sort of things, such as….This is Boris Kustodiev’s portrait of the artist Nikolai Milioti from 1916 which is in Saint Petersburg’s Russian Museum . Kustodiev (1878-1927) was a noted painter and stage set designer close to the Mir Iskusstva (World of Art) group. Nikolai Miloti (1874-1962) is less well remembered than Kustodiev today though was also close to the Mir Iskusstva group. Milioti was a Muscovite who studied at Moscow University and at the Sorbonne. Milioti fought on the Austrian Front in World War One, hence the uniform in this 1916 portrait. After the Bolshevik Revolution he became an exile, first in Bulgaria and then in France, where he died in the 1960s.

So why the Japanese print prominently on the wall behind Milioti? Well, Mir Iskusstva, which included artists as well as other cultural impresarios, such as Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes, took inspiration for art styles and forms around the world. They produced a magazine; prominent members included Alexandre Benois, Konstantin Somov, Dmitry Filosofov, Léon Bakst, Eugene Lansere. The group was extremely interested in Japanese art and their magazine reprinted woodblocks by Japanese masters Hokusai (he of the Wave) and Hiroshige.

Sorry, can’t quite identify the picture in the background to any specific link – seems to be a kabuki actor?

RAS Shanghai – Lost in Translation, Found in Typography: Shanghai Typography of the Republican Period – 1/7/14

RAS LECTURE

Tuesday 1 July 2014

7pm for 7:15pm

The Tavern, Radisson Blu Plaza Xingguo Hotel

78 XingGuo Road, Shanghai

KAROLINA PAWLIK

Lost in Translation, Found in Typography:

Shanghai Typography of the Republican Period

Taking into consideration selected Chinese designs, mostly created by typographers of the Republican Shanghai, Karolina Pawlik will reflect on issues of translation, transculturality and identity. She will also focus attention on the transcription of names, which, in the contemporary world, is not only experienced by famous artists or translated authors but also by many expats in their everyday life.

How can transcultural typography enhance some processes occurring in multinational and multilingual communities? Can it become a sort of catalyst, making people realise cultural change through visually powerful designs? How to handle – both graphically and culturally, socially and personally – several names, written with different scripts? Is it possible to keep the trace of the primary language in cover designs for translations? How to express complex relations between various cultures and languages (scripts) through typography designs?

Karolina Pawlik is a Ph.D. student at the University of Silesia (Poland) and Shanghai University. She is a participant in the elite  interdisciplinary Ph.D. program of the “Artes Liberales” Academy in Poland. An anthropologist and art historian, she is a member of the Polish Institute of World Art Studies. Being brought up as a bilingual child in a Polish-Russian family and spending several years of her childhood in Shanghai, she became interested at an early age in issues related to language, scripts and trasculturality. Currently she is completing her Ph.D. thesis on “Transformations of Chinese Writing in Shanghai Typography of the Republican Period“, and has lectured at the Fine Arts College of Shanghai University.

RSVP: to RAS Bookings at: bookings@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

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ENTRANCE: Members 70 RMB, non-members 100 RMB. Includes a glass of wine or soft drink

Priority for RAS members. Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption.

MEMBERSHIP applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.

WEBSITE: www.royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

North Korea – State of Paranoia: A Modern History

I haven’t really mentioned it much on this blog but there’s a new edition of my history of North Korea out, State of Paranoia. It’s been getting a few nice reviews (Guardian, FT, WSJ, Sunday Telegraph etc) and some plugs so I thought I’d offer a few links for anyone interested…it’s here on Amazon UK and here on Amazon US…

Fei Mu’s 1948 Spring in a Small Town Restored and Playing in UK Cinemas

One of the greats of pre-Commie Chinese cinema, Spring in a Small Town, is now playing at various art house cinemas around the UK through the summer (click here for details)

Regarded as the finest work from the first great era of Chinese filmmaking, Fei Mu’s quiet, piercingly poignant study of adulterous desire and guilt-ridden despair – now restored – is a remarkable rediscovery.

After eight years of marriage to Liyan – once rich but now sickly and almost suicidally apathetic following a long, ruinous war – Yuwen does little except deliver his daily medication. A surprise visit from Liyan’s friend Zhang re-energises the household, the invalid included. Liyan’s young sister is not alone in her excitement over the much-travelled guest; Yuwen knew him before her marriage… Eliciting a great performance from Wei Wei as Yuwen, whose wistful voiceover offers insights into her conflicted feelings, Fei creates a tense, sensual chamberwork steeped in suspicion and suppressed longing, deep resentments and half-spoken truths.

The deft use of locations, dissolves and camera movements makes for a fraught, febrile mood of hesitant passion, entrapment and ennui; sophisticated cinematically and psychologically, the film eschews sentimentality for something far more beguiling.

Francis de Croisset’s 1936 Le Dragon Blesse

Belgian born, French naturalised Francis de Croisset visited China in 1934 and wrote up his travels, in the “style of an English gentleman”, in Le Dragon Blesse: Impressions de voyage en Extrême-Orient (The Wounded Dragon, published in 1936). Croisset was a playwright and opera librettist and while he evinced an interest in the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and other such political stuff, he was essentially the archetypal sojourner – enjoying dinners, parties, embassy receptions and the like mostly.

I am not one of those hardy “travellers” who leaves home with a bar of chocolate and a map – I like the five star life, so de Croisset appeals to me. He never travelled in China with less than ten suitcases and feels for his European hosts and their problems with housekeepers and cooks and, being French, has strong opinions on food and enjoys a regal banquet or five. As ever, past accounts of China feel oddly contemporary – de Croisset mourns when he sees an ancient temple destroyed for no particular reason and is romantic and sentimental about a past, lost ancient China he can’t quite touch. I particularly appreciated (in these days of shorts and t-shirts as de rigeur among ex-pats and their brats in Beijing in even the best restaurants!) that he insists on arriving by rickshaw to a dinner at the Bolivian Embassy in a dinner jacket despite dust storms and intense heat. Good man!

RAS Shanghai – Chinese Lawyers on the Silver Screen in the 1940s: Lawyer Yin and Lawyer Yang – 24/6/14

ALISON CONNER

 on

Chinese Lawyers on the Silver Screen:

Lawyer Yin and Lawyer Yang

Despite the relative newness of their profession, lawyers make a surprising number of appearances in early Chinese films, where they act in both criminal and civil cases. In some movies we see easy access to lawyers, but in others, a lawyer’s help is clearly out of reach for most. Chinese filmmakers also used courtroom scenes to great dramatic effect, whether as a stage for an upright lawyer or as an intimidating setting for ordinary people lacking power or connections.

This presentation will analyze the depiction of lawyers and legal issues in two important movies from the late 1940s, which some film experts view as a “second golden age” of Chinese film. Both movies were produced by the privately-owned Wenhua Film Company (1946-1952), which was known for its “humanistic” movies and its creative directors, writers and actors. Long Live the Missus (Taitai Wansui太太万岁)1947 was directed by Sang Hu and was written by Eileen Chang; it is one of two films they did together in Shanghai. Bright Day (Yanyangtian艳阳天) 1948, which starred the great Shi Hui, was written and directed by Cao Yu, China’s most famous modern playwright, and it is the only screenplay he wrote. The two movies are very different in character, plot and tone, but both movies involve important legal issues–and both of their lawyers are good.

These movies are very much the product of their time and place, and they address the system of an earlier age. But their broader legal themes–access to justice and the role of lawyers in the legal system–remain of great importance now. What lessons might these classic movies offer as we consider the role of bench and bar in China today?

Alison Conner is a professor of law at the University of Hawai`i, where she teaches courses on Chinese and comparative law; she has a PhD in Chinese history as well as a law degree. Before moving to Hawaii, she taught law in China, Singapore and Hong Kong for twelve years, and in 2004 she returned to teach law as a Fulbright in Beijing.

Her recent articles focus on the Chinese legal profession and on depictions of the legal system in Chinese movies, including “Don’t Change Your Husband: Divorce in Early Chinese Movies,” “Images of Justice and Injustice: Trials in the Movies of Xie Jin,” and “The Lawyer Who Haunts Us: Yin Zhaoshi and the Bright Day.”

Talk Cost: RMB 70.00 (RAS members) and RMB 100.00 (non-members). Includes glass of wine or soft drink. Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption.

Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.  Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption.

RAS Monographs: Series 1 & 2 will be available for sale at this event. RMB 100 each (cash sale only).

To RSVP:  Please “Reply” to this email or write to

RAS Bookings at: bookings@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn