Posted: October 8th, 2013 | No Comments »
Another post on Fu Manchu (well, it is the centenary of the Fu Manchu books this year) – I hadn’t realised quite how much confectionery the old Chinese arch-villain had inspired….and video games and a Chinese take-away in Strabane, Northern Ireland!!
Fu-Man Chew Hormone Gum (??) – a happy smiling Fu…..
Some kinda gummy Fu Man Chew – and a strange sort of Monkey from Journey to the West type Fu Manchu image
Fu Man Chews gumballs
Not forgetting a rather silly video game
And Fu-Man Chew’s Chinese in Strabane
Posted: October 7th, 2013 | No Comments »
Funny how often the old occultist Aleister Crowley (I shouldn’t have to introduce him but if you don’t know him then here’s his scandalous life) comes up in conversation! At last week’s Fu Manchu/Lao She Conference in London Phil Baker, who knows a lot about a lot, related Crowley’s portrait of Master Kwaw, his character who is
“a Taoist advisor to the Japanese “Daimio” in a time of crisis. Kwaw advises a course of study in which people shall be taught the antithesis of their natural tendencies: the prostitute to learn chastity, the prude to learn sexual expression, the religious bigot to learn Huxley’s materialism, the atheist to learn ceremonial magick.”
Baker also suggested that this just might be what Crowley considered a self-portrait when under the influence….
Crowley occasionally assumed what he considered to be Chinese poses and characters in photographs….
Crowley as “Fo Hi, the Chinese God of Joy and Laughter”
As “Kwaw Li Ya – Chinese Poet”
Posted: October 6th, 2013 | No Comments »
A little tour through the Mid-West talking about Midnight in Peking….obviously love to see anyone at these great venues…..
9th October – Watermark Books – Witchita, Kansas – 7pm
10th October – St Louis County Library, St Louis, Missouri – 7pm
11th October – Books and Company at the Greene – Dayton, Ohio – 7pm
Posted: October 5th, 2013 | No Comments »
An interesting study of early French collecting of Chinese porcelain from Stephanie Castelluccio…
This is a revealing look at porcelain collecting in the reign of Louis XIV through the 18th century. This beautifully illustrated volume traces the changing market for Chinese and Japanese porcelain in Paris from the early years of the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715) through the 18th-century. The increase in the quantity and variety of East Asian wares imported during this period spurred efforts to record and analyze them, resulting in a profusion of inventories, sales catalogues, and treatises. These contemporary sources – many never published before – provide a comprehensive picture of porcelains: when they were first available; what kinds were most admired during various periods; where they were sold and at what price; who owned them; and how they were displayed and used.
Posted: October 4th, 2013 | No Comments »
No idea if this book (Francesco Consentino’s Shanghai: From Modernism to Modernity) is interesting or has anything new to say, but in the interests of covering the whole territory….
Following an historic perspective the book outlines different architectural trends flourishing in Shanghai during the first half of the XX century and introduces some of the major personalities who contributed to such development. It also discusses what may be the relevance and the status of such architectural heritage in today’s newly redesigned metropolis. The text is illustrated by 193 pictures. Before 1949 East and West met intensely in Shanghai, creating an extraordinary cultural hybrid. In this context the first prototypes of Chinese modernity were forged. In the field of architecture, particularly during the period between the two World Wars, a vast and distinctive Art Deco landscape materialized. Modernism became a fertile platform for experimenting with a common aesthetic language suitable for both cultures.
Posted: October 3rd, 2013 | No Comments »
A quick post to draw China Rhyming readers attention to this article on the most amazing map of San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1885. Click here. The map details opium houses, gambling parlours and brothels in detail and is a fascinating snapshot of the streets at that time. I know of no other map for any other Chinatown, either in America or elsewhere such as Limehouse with such detail. If you have any interest in Chinatowns then this is an absolute must see map. Indeed maps detailing ethnic populations are quite rare though I know the 1899 map of Jewish East London which is also fascinating, but no Chinese specific maps I’m afraid.
Posted: October 3rd, 2013 | No Comments »
Opening at the Ovalhouse Threatre on October 1…..
The Fu Manchu Complex
by Daniel York
Challenging the ‘Yellow Peril’ racist stereotype, five East Asian actors white up to play the traditional colonials in this hilarious murder mystery in the East End, using physical comedy and the style of the Victorian music hall in a pastiche of classic British cinema.
Who is Fu Manchu: sinister Chinaman, criminal genius, racist myth..?
Battling through clouds of opium, spiffing chaps Dr Petrie and Inspector Nayland Smith must do anything to stop the dastardly plans of evil criminal mastermind Dr Fu Manchu; but will their colonial angst allow them to do away with the villainous evil genius and save merry old England? And as their blundering leads them to ever more absurd conclusions, we ask, who is the real Fu Manchu?
2013 sees the hundredth anniversary of the publication of the first novel featuring Sax Rohmer’s lurid and fantastical racist creation, the evil Dr. Fu Manchu. A century on we re-examine the skewed perceptions that have arisen around this pervasive myth.
- 1 – 19 October, Tues-Sat 7.45pm. Previews 1 and 2 October.
Tickets
- Full: £14:00
- Under 26, Equity, BECTU: £10:00
- Concession: £8:00
- Preview: £7.00
Venue: Downstairs
Book / Box office: 020 7582 7680
Posted: October 2nd, 2013 | No Comments »
Robert Johnson’s Far China Station is an interesting addition to the naval literature on Sino-American history…
Far China Station was the first work to put nineteenth century American naval and diplomatic affairs in the Far East into clear perspective. Johnson examines the origins of the East India Squadron, defines its import role in the implementation of foreign policy and describes the dangers routinely faced by the squadron’s ships and sailors. Great and gallant ships move through the pages from the famous Olympia and the majestic Columbus to the plodding Palos. Naval heroes and the not-so-great, angry mobs, Japanese rebels, leaky boilers, imperious officials and infirm admirals are set against a background of uncertain anchorages, storms at sea, and the ravages of disease in the last years of the Old Navy.
