“Dead Brits in China: Poisons, Other Departures and Responses” – Robert Bickers

Sorry for last minute posting but I think was organised at the last minute…still…should be interesting. Perhaps offering “Happy Hour” drinks was not overly appropriate, or perhaps it was, as the Heywood story (not sure why wrong spelling below from the FCC?) has perked up the usual otherwise dull Chinese politics scene…Hacks!! gotta love ’em…

The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club Presents

“Dead Brits in China: Poisons, Other Departures and Responses”

Robert Bickers

Neil Heyward’s untimely death in Chongqing has been making headlines around
the world in recent weeks.  Distinguished UK Professor Robert Bickers will
put that tragedy into historical perspective, providing colorful and
well-informed insight into the mysterious deaths in China of other British and
foreign nationals from days past and the responses to themFirst Floor, 11 Dongping Rd (at the intersection of Hengshan Rd)

Venue Details: Sasha’s

First Floor, 11 Dongping Rd (at the intersection of Hengshan Rd)

Time: Monday, April 16^th, 6:00 – 7:00 pm

Admission: Free for members and non-members; enjoy Sasha’s Happy Hour prices

RSVP: fcc.sfcc@gmail.com

About the Speaker:

Robert Bickers is a professor of history at the University of Bristol.   His books include: “The Scramble for China: Foreign devils in the Qing empire”, and “Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai”.

Colossus Unsung – the Life of Edward Selby Little

A book I noticed on Xlibris – a bit worrying as I assume being published by Xlibris means it couldn’t get published anywhere else. Anyway Little was an interesting character who does deserve a biography as his life covered an interesting time for foreigners in China. I don’t know why it’s called anything quite as grand as Colossus Unsung though!

Edward Selby Little was an extraordinary Victorian who lived through the reign of four monarchs and affected events on three continents. The loose cannon feared by all administrations, he faced down Chinese bandits and British bureaucrats alike to change the course of history. Yet, incredibly, his legacy is almost unheard of, his story untold. Truly, until now, a colossus unsung. The author is an award-winning journalist and investigative reporter who spent several years researching the life of this incredible character.

Heading to London Book Fair?

I’ll be at London Book Fair Monday to Wednesday next week and attending some of the Chinese-related events (China is featured country this year) as well as being at the Zed Books Alternative Voices on China party on Tuesday evening.

If you’re at London Book Fair do look me up and come along to the Zed party on Tuesday night if you’re in Bloomsbury

1941 – Things are Tight – Reduce Electricity Usage

By 1941 things were starting to look a little dire in the Shanghai International Settlement as the Japanese encircled and supplies ran low while distribution was disrupted – the “solitary island” period. So naturally the Shanghai Power Company in 1941 needed to start looking at way to reduce electricity use, even as the nightclubs and cabarets carried on….nice that you could get a representative to come round and talk to you about power efficiency! Trying getting that kind of service today!

RAS Shanghai Lecture – 17 April – Shelly Bryant on the Traditional Chinese Garden

RAS LECTURE

Tuesday 17th April 2012 at 7.00pm

The Tavern, Radisson Blu Plaza Xingguo Hotel 78 Xingguo Road,Shanghai

兴国宾馆上海市兴国路78号

SHELLY BRYANT

ON

A Living Art Form: The Making of a Classical Chinese Garden

The Suzhou garden stands as the pinnacle of Chinese culture and refinement – a blend of the visual arts, philosophy and literature in the confines of a small physical space. Thus, to stroll through a Chinese garden is to immerse oneself in an elite expression of traditional Chinese culture. In contrast to the northern imperial gardens, the southern approach to landscaping that originated from the city of Suzhou and the surrounding area emphasizes poetry and art in a living space. “A Living Art Form: The Making of a Chinese Garden” will explore the rich traditions of Suzhou gardening that stretch back to the distant past, with the first private garden in Suzhou having belonged to the Wu Emperor in the Spring and Autumn period (600 BC). The construction of these leisure grounds culminated between the 16th and 18th centuries, when there were over 200 private gardens in Suzhou. The lecture will highlight the underlying philosophy of garden construction and explore the various techniques that have been used to bring that philosophy to life within the grounds of the classical Suzhou garden.

Shelly Bryant divides her year between Shanghai and Singapore, working as a teacher, writer, researcher and translator. She is the author of two volumes of poetry, Cyborg Chimera and Under the Ash, and a travel guide to Suzhou entitled Suzhou Basics. Her third volume of poetry, Voices of the Elders, and her travel memoir The End of the Line are slated for release in early 2012. Her most recent projects include writing an updated guide to the city of Shanghai for Urbanatomy and translating Sheng Keyi’s novel Northern Girls (北妹) for Penguin Books.

Shelly’s poetry has appeared in journals, magazines and websites around the world, as well as in several Shanghai-based art exhibitions, including dark ’til dawn, Things Disappear, and Studio White * Exhibition 2011.

Entrance: RMB 30.00 (RAS members) and RMB 80.00 (non-members). Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Lecture. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.  Members will have priority booking until 14th April 2012.

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

RAS Bookings at: bookings@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

Carl Crow – The Podcast

There is a chap in California somewhere by the name of Laszlo Montgomery who runs a website that issues podcasts he records on Chinese history – The China History Podcast. He covers topics and subjects old and new and, I’m delighted to discover, has just done a podcast on the life of Carl Crow – my great hero and who’s biography I penned some years back (Carl Crow – A Tough Old China Hand). I must say that for anyone not feeling inclined to read my biography (and shame on you for such thoughts!!) Mr Montgomery does a most excellent summation of Carl’s life and major exploits. Well worth tuning in to – not just for Crow obviously but for his previous podcasts too.

Where Shanghai’s Bad Boys Went in 1907

Drunk and brawling sailors, pimps, standovermen and gangsters along with forgers, fences and good old fashioned burglars, not forgetting the odd murderer, rapist and stone cold killer – in 1907 in Shanghai this is where they ended up – The Shanghai Municipal Gaol complete with its own staff quarters and go-down for its stores. To be fair, in 1907, around the world there were quite a few worse prisons to get sent to!

RAS Shanghai – Robert Bickers on Britain, China and India 1830s-1947 – 14/4/12

RAS WEEKENDER

Saturday 14th April 2012 at 4.00pm

Tavern, Radisson Plaza Xingguo Hotel 78 Xing Guo Road, Shanghai

PROFESSOR ROBERT BICKERS

ON

Britain, China and India 1830s – 1947

British China was, in origin, an off-shoot of British India. Most notoriously, it was the prime market for Indian opium, and a key factor in British Indian revenues through the tea trade. This talk explores the history of this triangular relationship, and the ways in which the British story in China was shaped by its Indian roots and connections. The Indian factor remained a live and important one until the end of the treaty era in the 1940s, and remained prominent in Hong Kong after the establishment of the PRC. While Sir Victor Sassoon charmed the city’s elite, Sikhs policed China’s two international settlements and several British concessions. British Indian forces were deployed four times on active service to protect the British establishment as it promenaded to tiffin along its bunds. Britons besieged at Peking in 1900 chatted about the parallels with Lucknow in 1857. Where precisely did the British in China think they actually were?

Robert Bickers is Professor of History at the University of Bristol, and the author of Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai (2003) and The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire (2011, just published in paperback). He has recently contributed a new foreword to the Earnshaw Books reprint of E.W. Peters’ Shanghai Policeman, and is preparing a new work on China’s coastal lighthouses.