CHRISTIANITY IN EARLY CHINABiblio.com
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1900réf. 174874Xi'an China: c. 1900. China's "Christian Rosetta Stone" A rubbing of the most famous document of Chinese Christianity. When rediscovered the Nestorian Stele transformed understanding of the cross-cultural history of Tang dynasty China. "The discovery of this monument is what made Westerners aware of the presence of Christianity in China prior to the mission of the Franciscans in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and those of the Jesuits" Nicolini-Zani p. 117. The Nestorian Stele was carved in 781 and stands at almost three metres tall. The Chinese inscription in the calligraphy of a local official Lu Xiuyan describes how Christians arrived at the Tang capital of Xi'an in 635 and with official permission founded churches. The stele also introduces in Chinese and Syriac some of the community's senior clergy and the present state of the Nestorian church. "Erecting a stone monument to describe commend and propagate its teachings was no small undertaking for the Tang Christian community. Putting up stone monuments was an expensive exercise because of the price of the stone and the fee of the expert artisan who engraved the text. The monument itself makes an important statement about the place of Christianity within Tang society" Nicolini-Zani pp. 120-1. In 845 Christianity was banned by Emperor Wuzong and the stele was buried. Rediscovered by Chinese antiquarians around 1625 it brought to light a lost dimension to China's history and translations soon appeared in Jesuit writings including Kircher's China Monumentis 1667 which included the first printed reproduction of the text. The stone now stands at the Beilin Museum in Xi'an and is listed among the small number of protected antiquities that will never be exhibited abroad. Rubbings from the original are no longer permitted. This piece belonged to the theologian and sociologist Y. Y. Tsu 1886-1986 also known as Chu Yu-Yu. Born in Shanghai Tsu studied at St John's College Shanghai and at Columbia becoming one of the first Chinese students of sociology to study abroad. In 1912 he became Professor of Sociology at St John's and later served as the religious director of the Peking Union Medical College. "In 1940 he was consecrated an Episcopal bishop in Shanghai and was named Assistant Bishop of Hong Kong and Bishop of Kunming where he began his Burma Road work." Tsu was known "as the 'Bishop of the Burma Road' because of his efforts to befriend Allied troops traveling the international highway that ran through his district" obituary in New York Times. In 1931 Tsu held a visiting lectureship at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley California. This rubbing was gifted to the institution by Tsu and displayed there during the 1930s. It is regularly mentioned as a point of interest in contemporary tourist guides to the state. Mounted on four long pieces of paper total size: 234 x 96 cm. Rubbing from stone on multiple paper sheets arranged soon after execution to form 120 x 320 mm curved headpiece 100 x 588 mm title and 1825 x 870 text body edges of mount reinforced with old decorative white paper. Rubbing generally sharp and legible a few surface blemishes sectional joins reinforced in places on verso: a very good example of an imposing piece. Matteo Nicolini-Zani The Luminous Way to the East: Texts and History of the First Encounter of Christianity with China 2022. unknown
réf. PD8879 loose gelatin silver photographs from ca. 12 x 9.5 cm 4 ¾ x 3 ¾ in to 10 x 6.5 cm 4 x 2 ½ in. 40 images with period pencil captions on verso. Four images with “Lama Temple” stamped on verso. Overall a very good collection of strong interesting photos. A well-preserved collection of 79 original and studio gelatin silver photographs showing Beijing written as “Peiping” in late 1946 and early 1947. The collection was likely compiled by a US Marine Corps officer serving in China as part of Operation Beleaguer 1945-1949. Operation Beleaguer was the US-overseen repatriation of Japanese and Koreans living in China’s northeastern Hebei and Shandong provinces in the wake of World War II. Over 30 photographs show landmarks and sites in Beijing. They include the Forbidden City’s northern gate Gate of Divine Might and Hall of Supreme Harmony; the Hall of Prayer and Circular Altar Mound at the Temple of Heaven; aerial views of the Great Wall of China taken north of Beijing; the Marble Boat in the Summer Palace; a “Lama Service” at Yonghe Temple; the Beijing Guozijian; the city fortifications including the archery and gate tower described as being “the north gate on the east wall”; the White Pagoda at Miaoying Temple; the Diamond Throne Pagoda at Zhenjue Temple; the Nine-Dragon Wall at Beihai Park; Peking Union Medical College; and two bird’s eye views of the city one showing the Forbidden City from the Grand Hotel de Peking currently Beijing Hotel the other a busy street. Also included are over 25 photographs of the streets of Beijing. They show busy street markets including a grain market; street vendors including a peddler of earmuffs and gauze masks a vegetable merchant and a knife sharpener; and street scenes near a city gate with portraits of locals including a municipal policeman a man smoking tobacco and a “militiaman.” There is also a series of six photographs showing a funeral procession. Other photographs in the collection include the interior of a residence; a courtyard with an air raid shelter; lion statues next to cannons in front of a pavilion; statues from a Buddhist temple; and a dragon boat with many spectators in Shanghai in front of the Capitol Theatre. Overall an interesting and well-preserved collection of original and studio photographs showing Beijing shortly after World War II. unknown
1923réf. 168267Shanghai: Commercial Press Limited 1923. The city of poets the city of dreams First edition first printing of this large and rare map identifying major landmarks and features in both Chinese and English. The picturesque city is most closely associated with the poet Su Shi whose careful stewardship of Hangzhou restored the West Lake to its former glory and preserved its beauty for generations to come. We have traced a single institutional copy only University of Manchester. The scenery and calm of Hangzhou has inspired numerous poets and artists from the Tang dynasty down to the present day including the Tang master Bai Juyi and the Yuan dynasty's Zhao Mengfu. An inset map shows the Gushan region of outstanding natural beauty. Colour lithographed map 1090 x 780 mm folding away to 275 x 200 mm as issued housed in original printed paper sleeve. Light toning couple of splits along folds; sleeve with losses at edge as expected: a very good copy. unknown
2024réf. 010290London: Del Rey. A fine UK first edition first printing hardback in a fine unclipped dustjacket - All my books are always securely packed with plenty of bubblewrap in professional boxes and promptly dispatched within 2-3 days - SIGNED BY KEANU REEVES & CHINA MIEVILLE TO THE TITLE PAGE - Pictures of the book are available upon request. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 2024. Del Rey hardcover
1948réf. 178144Higganum Connecticut: 30 November 1948. I hope you won't reply to this" - a sinological circle rent asunder A window onto the collapse of the marriage of Edgar and Helen Snow the 20th century's most important bridges between China and the Western world. As shown in this terse exchange between two of their friends the split sowed distrust and trapped some of the leading lights of American sinology in a quagmire of pettiness. Enjoying privileged access to top Chinese political and social figures Edgar 1905-1972 and Helen Foster Snow 1907-1997 also known as Nym Wales and "Peg" shaped Western views of China and its people to an extent unmatched by any other journalist or academic. Edgar Snow's career was bookended by Red Star Over China 1927 the work that introduced Mao Zedong to the English-speaking world and the historic 1972 Nixon visit to Beijing for which he laid important groundwork in the 1960s. Helen Snow reporting and writing from China in the 1930s and 1940s opened American eyes to the country's deteriorating political and refugee situations earning two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. With Rewi Alley the Snows co-founded the Indusco "Gung Ho" co-operative movement to promote economic recovery and they are lionized in China today. Their 1932 marriage ended acrimoniously in the late 1940s following their permanent return to the US and divided their sinological circle. This letter written by the State Department China expert Lawrence Salisbury 1891-1976 was sent in reply to Helen Snow's close friend the medical missionary Ida Pruitt 1888-1985 at the New York headquarters of Indusco. There are no opening niceties. "Your letter just came. You and I must not talk about the Snows to each other. I have known them for fifteen years. Peg is a liar". There follows several paragraphs listing Helen Foster Snow's character faults "unreasonable" "unprincipled" and "willing to blacken people" and her attempts to take advantage of Edgar Snow. "On Ed's side I find no lies. I find that he has been hitched to a selfish self-seeking pathological woman who is set to destroy him financially and/or in reputation. When I told him that Peg was responsible for the arrival at my farm in early this month of two men to serve a writ to attach most unreasonably his car and his river property he would not at first believe me". A pencilled note in the margin states that "I can give many underlined other instances". Salisbury also accuses Helen of greed and money-grabbing and sneers at her "feminist theories" and her inability to produce commercially viable books. In the final third of the letter he flatly rejects Pruitt's suggestion that he intervene to soften Edgar Snow's mind ending with a word of advice: "I hate to see you waste your time and emotional strength in so undeserving a cause. I hope you won't reply to this." Provenance: by descent through the Pruitt family; recently in a private collection in Hong Kong. Single sheet 275 x 215 mm text one side only. With mailing envelope typed address "Miss Ida Pruitt Indusco Inc. 425 Fourth Avenue New York 16 N.Y.". Envelope split along 3 edges otherwise fine. unknown
2024réf. 010523UK: Del Rey. A Superb UK first edition first printing hardback - in a fine unclipped dustjacket fitted with a removable clear mylar sleeve - All my books are always securely packed with plenty of bubblewrap in professional boxes and promptly dispatched within 2-3 days - SIGNED BY CHINA MIEVILLE ONLY - Pictures available upon request. . Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 2024. Del Rey hardcover
1943réf. 63876New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1943. First Edition. First printing. Laid-in is a 2-pp ALS dated Dec. 26 1944 on Agnes Smedley's letterhead to Lt. Eugene S. Brewer Jr. see note below. Octavo 21cm. Original red cloth boards titles in gilt on spine; dustjacket; maroon top-stain; viii528xvi pp; illus. Folding map inserted before half-title. A Very Good copy with expected evidence of reading and use; there is a small closed tear in the margin of the folding map which is otherwise clean and complete. In the original dustwrapper unclipped priced $3.50 generally rubbed and soiled with old clear tape reinforcements at flap-folds; just VG. Ownership and bookplate of Eugene S. Brewer Jr.; a 4¢ "Sun Yat Sen" U.S. postage stamp affixed to front free endpaper. Additionally laid-in is a folded circular printing the "Statement of Policy" of the Committee for a Democratic Policy Toward China later the Committe for a Democratic Far East Policy. Jacket design by Jean Carlu. The revolutionary journalist's major work a memoir of her twelve years as a correspondent on the front lines of both the Chinese revolution and the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1929 to 1942. Smedley 1892-1950 was a prolific left journalist and probable spy known for her active support of Chinese and Indian revolutionary causes and for her many writings on Maoist China. The laid-in letter of about 250 words is dated Dec. 26 and addressed to a young Army lieutenant from Michigan Eugene S. Brewer. Smedley discusses the recent U.S. Presidential elections stating that she voted for Roosevelt despite disagreeing with "many things Roosevelt has done and still does.but I was afraid of Dewey and his rotten reactionaries. Now I grow more and more afraid of Churchill and it would be a godsend if he'd fall dead or if someone would kindly bump him off." She comments on British policy in India: "As long as Nehru remains in prison I have no hearing for any agent of the British" - and concludes with a description of her work for China relief "raffling off things for 2 weeks to aid cultural workers in Chung King.I'm tired tramping the streets selling chances for 10¢! So much work for so little." Eugene S. Brewer 1914-2001 was a 1935 graduate of the University of Michigan. He won a 1938 Avery Hopwood Prize for a proletarian novel apparently never published "Some Brass and No Groceries." After a brief and apparently unremarkable scriptwriting career in Hollywood Brewer returned to his home town of Owosso Michigan where he was for many years a county planner and surveyor. Brewer's connection to Smedley is uncertain but likely dated from his student days at Michigan. Alfred A. Knopf unknown
2025réf. x-9819999669Springer Nature 2025. Hardcover. New. 195 pages. 9.25x6.10x9.47 inches. Springer Nature hardcover
1930réf. 179497Shanghai: California Directory Association 1930. Today she stands supreme as the greatest city of all the Orient First edition first printing of this charming and hard-to-find travel guide. Tourists are invited to listen to the "snappy dance orchestra" at the Old Carlton on Shanghai's Ningpo Road or explore Beijing's famous Camel Bell curio shop based at the Grand Hotel. For trips that went awry readers could turn to page 49 and its advertisement for "the best equipped Funeral Establishment in the Orient". Small octavo. Folding map of Shanghai at rear; illustrations and advertisements in text. Original illustrated card wrappers wire-stitched as issued front cover lettered in white with illustration of Shanghai's Willow Pattern Tea House. Occasional pencil marking in text. Extremities lightly rubbed contents clean: near-fine. unknown
réf. 2n150Selbstverlag Peking 1978. Je Heft ca. 44 S. mit zahlreichen Abb. folio. - sehr gute Exemplare - unknown
1920réf. 180565China: c. 1920s. An attractive handmade gift for the tourist market the delightful papercuts depicting rural scenes and figures. The large example on the first page incorporates the motif "double happiness" within a setting of birds flowers and foliage. Landscape octavo. With 20 handmade papercuts some embellished with colour pieces of textile on 10 leaves glassine guards. Original black brocade boards with black and red embroidered decoration tied with black cord through three holes. Binding smart small mark on read board occasional spotting internally: near-fine. hardcover
1920réf. 180564China: c. 1920s. An attractive handmade gift for the tourist market the delightful papercuts depicting rural scenes and reproducing the Chinese characters for "luck" and "joy". This example contains 18 pages for inscriptions each with a papercut in the bottom corner. Landscape octavo. With 20 handmade papercuts on 10 leaves glassine guards. Original dark blue brocade with embroidered patterns blue silk xianzhuang stitching Rear cover with couple of marks toning and offsetting internally first glassine with loss at foot: near-fine. unknown
1948réf. 180738Nanjing: Government Information Office c. 1948. First edition of this pamphlet outlining the damage sustained by the railway network during the Second World War and the government's ambitious post-war reconstruction agenda. We have traced copies at the National Library of Australia and the Leibniz Information Centre for Economics only. Octavo pp. 20. Map in text. Original wrappers wire-stitched as issued front cover lettered in black. Light scuffing to covers contents evenly browned: very good. unknown
réf. 2H13197-Bibliograph. Institut Hildburghausen um 1880. Motivmaße: ca. 135 x 92 cm bis 154 x 10 cm bzw. 15 x 106 cm im Passepartout hinter Glas im schwarzen Holzrahmen ca. 667 x 408 cm. - originelle Zusammenstellung / Enthalten: Nanking; Lang sc. / Canton / Peking in China / Canton in China / Das Innere eines chinesischen Götzentempels; H. Steifensand sculps. nach P. App / Der Kaiser-Pallast in Peking - unknown
réf. PE54Oblong Folio album ca. 25x33 cm or 10 x 13 ¼ in. 30 card stock leaves. With ca. 330 mounted original gelatin silver photos including five large images from ca. 195x26 cm 7 ¾ x 10 in to ca. 175x24 cm 7 x 9 ½ in; the rest of the photos are from ca. 125x205 cm 4 ¾ x 8 in to ca. 45x65 cm 1 ¾ x 2 ½ in. Nine photos are captioned in negative; at least eighteen with ink manuscript captions on recto or verso. With seven mounted period newspaper clippings or ephemera. Period brown faux leather album fastened with a string; gilt-lettered title “Photographs” on the front cover. Binding rubbed with chipping and losses on extremities over a dozen photos with creases losses of corners or scratches two or three photos possibly previously removed A few photos mildly faded or with mild silvering but overall a very good album of interesting photos. Interesting extensive collection of original gelatin silver snapshot and studio photos taken and collected by an American sailor during his service on U.S.S. “Huron” and “U.S.S. “Black Hawk” in the Southwest Pacific in the 1920s. Former U.S.S. South Dakota 1908-1920 U.S.S. “Huron” served as flagship of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in 1919-1926 “operating in Philippine waters during the winter and out of Shanghai and Yantai during the summer” Wikipedia. In 1923 the ship participated in the relief operation in Yokohama and Tokyo after the Great Kanto earthquake. U.S.S. “Black Hawk” served in the Asiatic Fleet for twenty years 1922-1942 cruising between various locations in the Philippines Manila Olongapo and China Hong Kong Shanghai Amoy/Xiamen Tsingtao/Qingdao and Chefoo/Yantai. During WW2 it served in Hawaii and Kodiak Alaska. Most images in the album show the U.S. naval ships where the compiler served and their crew members including a large group portrait of sailors wearing the U.S.S. “Huron’s” sports uniform and a large view of U.S.S. “Huron” in Hong Kong harbour. The smaller photos include numerous scenes taken on board mostly of U.S.S. “Black Hawk” with the sailors working or resting some are captioned i.e. “scrubbing gangway in Yellow Sea en Chefoo to Shanghai me with pipe in mouth B.H.” “just like convicts” “B.H. looking forward; x - is our movie screen and o - is the movie house” “main mast” &c. images of an official ceremony on board naval exercises at sea “firing a torpedo” “standing by to fire 4 inch” portraits of the crew members several identified by the compiler i.e. “… Seaner he is at the hospital in Peking now” “F.J. Tancey from Fort Wayne apt gun deck Chefoo” “Lewis R. Hand he died the night we left Chefoo from desentery sic!” “Wirth and Mardis” &c. There are also views of the interior of U.S.S. “Huron’s” launch boat the ship’s radio tower “comforts of a man-of-war” a view “taken from inside of Hawk looking thru an air port tin cans ships and the beach” a launch boat “waiting for the Captain Chefoo” &c. A series of photos show the U.S. naval ships in Chefoo Yantai: “a small part of the Asiatic Fleet anchored in Chefoo;” “x – is were the cans go for shelter when it gets bad also the subs. They might slip there sic! anchor and get washed up on the shore. O. Chinese fort Chefoo;” “tin cans coming in from fireing sic! Chefoo;” “cans and sampans taken at apt gun deck B.H. Chefoo;” “English gun boat in river” “repairing cans Chefoo B.H.” “more of the navy Chefoo” &. Several views of Chefoo show “God in Heaven temple” “Door & lions at Yu Hwan Ding Chefoo” “Chefoo Wall’ taken from above “Arch at American Mission School Temple Hill – Chefoo” “Y.M.C.A. Court Chefoo” “Row of old guns Chefoo Fort” “Chinese memorial Tablets – Chefoo” local boys swimming in the sea &c. There are also several views of Hong Kong port and wharves waterfront residences on Victoria Peak Statue Square with the monument to Queen Victoria Shanghai “entering Shanghai we are in the Yangtze river” “view from B.H. outskirts of Shanghai” a view of the General Post Office building with the Suzhou Creek Qingdao “Tsingtau” &c. Several photos portray American sailors in rickshaw carts “Jew Wirth and me Oriental Hotel Chefoo” posing with Chinese girls “Sing Tat and Job” “6 Chinaman sic! Chefoo” on board the ship &c. The large photos include two reproductions of drawings depicting the service of American sailors in China and the Philippines a map with “Distances from Guam to principal points in the Pacific. Over a dozen photos taken in the Philippines show “Hotel Abella Pagsanjan P.I.” local villages native workers dancers women boys playing a ball game and a group portrait of American sailors “in the Philippine jungles Olongpo sic! while we were in dry dock Feb. 25…” The newspaper clippings and ephemera include articles about the USS S-4 submarine disaster 1927 the appointment of U.S.S. “Pittsburg” the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet in the end of 1926 the movement of San Diego warships a receipt from “Hanson photo studio” in Tsingtau/Qingdao and a ticket to the Peak tramway in Hong Kong. Overall an interesting content-rich visual source on the history of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and its service near the coast of China and the Philippines in the 1920s. hardcover
réf. PE29Oblong Quarto album ca. 268x364 cm. 30 card stock leaves. With ca. 215 mounted original gelatin silver photographs from ca. 87x144 cm 3 ½ x 5 ¾ in to ca. 69x67 cm 2 ¾ x 2 ½ in five real photo postcards ca. 108x139 cm 4 ¼ x 5 ½ in and six printed postcards ca. 137x87 cm 5 ½ x 3 ½ in. Most photos with period white pencil captions in French on the mounts at least seven photos including one real photo postcard with captions in negatives. Full ornamented cloth album fastened with a string. Several photos with mild silvering but otherwise a very good album with strong interesting photographs. Historically interesting album of lively vernacular photographs apparently taken by a French resident of Canada during his trans-Pacific voyage from Vancouver to the Orient in the late 1934 and early 1935. The compiler and his travel companions left Vancouver aboard the “RMS Empress of Canada” and sailed to Hong Kong with a stopover in Saigon Vietnam. From there they traveled overland to Beijing and Seoul and then continued to Japan visiting Kyoto and Nikko. On the return journey they stopped in Honolulu and New York. The album contains 215 well executed photographs from the voyage and opens with over sixty images of Saigon showing rare views of the first tea factory in the East-South Asia the Bank of Vietnam and candid street scenes of native huts boutiques and restaurants. Especially interesting is a striking image of half-naked ethnic locals sitting on the ground beside a bicycle and posing for the camera. The other photos from the region capture topographical views riverside fishing gear on the Huong River and snapshots of the compiler and his companions throughout their journey by cars in canoes along the Mekong River etc. Among twenty-five photographs of Hong Kong a standout image illustrates a bustling street scene filled with residents in traditional attire shopfronts with Chinese signs and flags of the Wang Jingwei regime flying alongside the British Union Jack. The rest of the images show the city’s port waterfront glowing night views and moments of the travel group golfing. In Beijing the focus shifts to historical landmarks documenting the Summer Palace Nine Dragon Screen Ming Tombs Temple and Altar of Heaven and the iconic Chinese guardian lions. A dozen photographs of the Great Wall offer a rare glimpse of life along its slopes with locals carrying goods in baskets and leading donkeys through the rugged terrain. The Japanese portion of the journey includes evocative views of Kyoto’s Chion-in Temple the historic Yaami Hotel and a Buddhist temple with a monk standing solemnly at the gate. The group also visited Nikko capturing sites such as the Toshogu Shrine the ornate Yomeimon Gate a stone basin and tranquil views of Lake Chuzenji. The album closes with about forty photos of Seoul Temple of Heaven Honolulu views of the waterfront photos on deck and Arizona Grand Canyon. Overall historically interesting album of lively vernacular photographs apparently taken by a French resident of Canada during his trans-Pacific voyage from Vancouver to the Orient in the late 1934 and early 1935. hardcover
1912réf. 179999London: Roberts & Leete 1912. Certificate number 11028 of this early Chinese government bond known as the "Gold Loan of 1912". These bonds were released to raise funds for the Republic of China a year just after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. The gold loan of 1912 for £10 million sterling was authorized by the Minister of Finance of the government of the Republic of China. The certificate states that "the Bearer of this Bond is entitled to receive from the Government of China the sum of Twenty pounds sterling with Interest thereon from the 30th day of September 1912 at the rate of five per cent. gold per annum". A total of 80 coupons were originally attached to the verso with 52 coupons having been used. The remaining 28 coupons attached and folded to the verso are "for ten shillings sterling being one half-year's interest." and numbered 53 to 80. Paper certificate 450 x 305 mm with 28 coupons attached on verso. Engraved with geometric and floral borders in blue yellow patterned engraved background Chinese government seals printed in red. A little creased mild spots to extremities one coupon attached by tape repair colours bright: a very good piece. unknown
2012réf. 1-1741797144Lonely Planet 2012. Paperback. New. 14 edition. 814 pages. 8.25x5.25x1.25 inches. Lonely Planet paperback
1919réf. 176501Shanghai: Privately printed by Kelly & Walsh Ltd for G.S.J. 1919. A Shanghai expat's otherwise unrecorded tribute to his goddaughter inscribed by the author on the first blank "To Irene from Stewart with all good wishes. 22nd October 1919 Shanghai". G. Stewart Jones "G.S.J." in the imprint ran the Shanghai office of the chemicals giant Brunner Mond & Co. Jones composed his poems in Shanghai Tianjin on the Yangtze River and in England. His collection is a rare surviving example of the bespoke luxury printing and bookbinding service provided by Kelly & Walsh Asia's largest publisher-printer. Octavo pp. 16. Contents printed in blue. Original decorative black and blue brocade front cover lettered in gilt edges untrimmed binder's ticket on rear pastedown. Boards lightly rubbed and bowed foxing to endpapers and edges: a very good copy. hardcover
réf. ria9781394244294_inpHardback. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; N/A hardcover
2014réf. 1-1401243835Dc Comics 2014. Paperback. New. 240 pages. 10.50x6.75x0.50 inches. Dc Comics paperback
1891réf. 175500Hankow: no stated publisher 1891. Anything more horribly beastly and disgusting than these painted representations it would be impossible to imagine Sole edition of this collection of 32 images used by anti-Christian agitators in central China to whip up anti-foreign sentiment. They "appeal directly to the folk and elite traditions of China's classical past. In vivid colours they depict graphic violence. and show graphically the growing conflict between western missionary views of China and Chinese views of the Western presence" Perdue. The treaties signed at the end of the Opium War authorized western missionaries to proselytise in the Chinese hinterland. During the late 19th century when Chinese agriculture and rural life faced steep decline missionaries became popular scapegoats. "The original causes might be a dispute over land or water rights or an inappropriate marriage or an illicit love affair but the conflict could easily metastasize into large scale violence" Perdue. During the 1891 riots hundreds of Chinese Christians and two western missionaries were killed. The editor the missionary John Griffith based this publication on a pamphlet attributed to the Hunanese official Zhou Han 1842-1911 who used a publishing outfit in Changsha to disseminate a large quantity of anti-foreign literature. Zhou's images employ colour allegory and popular folk custom to "attack religious heterodoxy and sexual deviance with violent rhetoric. They portray the Christians as animals who know nothing of the moral codes that define humanity. The pictures portray the Western missionaries as goats and their Chinese followers as pigs. The play on words linking 'Jesus' as 'master' zhu with 'hog' zhu or 'Westerner' yang with 'goat' yang reduced the Christian believers to a bestial level. The use of the color green indicating 'cuckold' in the characters referring to Christians signified the undermining of the family by the alien believers. In a number of these images the animalistic Christians are brought before a god or magistrate who sits in judgement and offers them as sacrifices by having their throats slit" Purdue. Landscape quarto. With 32 full-page colour woodblocks colour Chinese title page. Original printed wrappers recent purple thread xianzhuang stitching front cover lettered in black rear cover with decoration and Chinese text in red black and green. Housed in custom burgundy quarter morocco box. Contemporary manuscript notation on front cover. Wrappers and edges of leaves creased and bumped rear cover rather worn recent adhesive tape repair to Chinese title page verso of final folded leaf sometime laid down onto rear wrapper illustrations bright stab-holes from original binding visible in gutter: a very good copy of a fragile work. Peter Perdue "The Cause of the Riots in the Yantgse Valley 1891 - Introduction" available online. unknown
1900réf. 176895Shanghai: Brewer & Co. c. 1900. From the Chefoo Bluff to Lamtong Head Sole edition untraced institutionally the copy of Vice-Admiral Seymour's chief of staff in Tianjin during the Boxer Uprising. This photographic guide is designed for "the navigator of this changeable and frequently foggy locality" preface. We have traced only one other copy which appeared in commerce in 2017. Navigators in the late Qing period could rely on only a small network of lighthouses and fixed navigational aids when sailing the Chinese coast. "In thick weather even a person familiar with the coast is at a loss to identify a well-known Islands with its summit" preface. The thirty views include the Chefoo Bluff in the Pechili Gulf the waters near the Hieshans Light House Zhejiang and Hong Kong's Lamtong Head. A concerted period of lighthouse-building in the 1910s and 1920s obviated the need for further publications of this kind. Provenance: though unmarked as such this copy was owned by Captain Edward Henry Bayly C.B. 1849-1904 Commander of the International Forces at Tianjin in June 1900. Bayly had a lifelong career in the Royal Navy. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in September 1873 commander in June 1887 and captain in January 1894 having served overseas in numerous ships. Bayly captained HMS Pelorus during the fleet review for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897 and in 1899 became captain of the armoured cruiser HMS Aurora on the China station. During the Boxer Uprising he replaced the wounded John Jellicoe as chief of staff to Seymour was mentioned by Seymour in dispatches and remained at Tianjin until the withdrawal of naval forces. He retired at his own request in February 1904. Landscape octavo. With 30 mounted collotypes within red frames. Original red cloth front cover lettered in gilt white coated endpapers leaves hinged with white linen as issued. A little shaken binding sunned and stained contents well preserved a little toning at fore edges: a very good copy. hardcover
1915réf. 176119Qingdao: Mifune Shashinkan 1915. Second edition first printing of this album of photographs of Qingdao in the First World War. It contains many shots from the only major land battle of the war to take place in China including of heavy weaponry soldiers on the march encampments and local infrastructure. As part of the succession of unequal treaties imposed upon the Qing Dynasty in the late 19th century the German Empire leased Jiaozhou Bay in 1898 and used it to build the city of Qingdao. This became its primary naval base in the region and therefore a major target in the First World War. Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 Britain requested help from the Japanese Empire to dislodge the German forces. The Imperial Japanese Navy proceeded to blockade the port and land their troops putting it under siege in September 1914. The garrison held out for two months but was overwhelmed. This was the only major land battle in the Asian theatre of the First World War the second air-sea battle in world history and the second time that the Japanese had defeated a major Western power. This volume is a collection of photographs taken during the preparation fighting and aftermath of this battle. The photographer was Mifune Shuko who "accompanied the soldiers through thick and thin running through a rain of bullets facing rain and wind hunger and frost putting his body on the line to photograph the war" p. ii. The volume opens with a colour photograph of Lingyan Temple near the city of Tai'an followed by hundreds of black and white photographs showing not just the battle itself but also the city of Qingdao and its people. This second edition was released 10 days after the first edition on 25 April 1915. Octavo. With 121 pages of halftone photographs one colour photograph of Lingyan Temple; text in Japanese and English. Single page of publisher's advertisements to rear. Original black ribbed cloth boards light green thread binding spine ends capped in purple cloth blind vertical rule to both boards front board lettered in gilt. Signature to title of "Hermann Walter 1. Nov. 1914". Boards worn a few tidemarks gilt tarnished title page with one chip to top left corner and one closed tear repaired with tape light offsetting plates bright: a very good copy. hardcover
1955réf. 171714Beijing: Chinese Youth Publishing House 1955. First edition first printing presentation copy inscribed on the front free endpaper in Chinese by the Chinese delegation to the Fifth World Festival of Youth and Students "Presented to our dear young friend from America - China Youth League Delegation Warsaw August 1955". Convened by the World Federation of Democratic Youth the festival took anti-imperialism as its theme. More than 30000 people from 114 countries participated and the programme of events included parades speeches performances and sports meets. The proceedings gave everyday Poles an unprecedented opportunity to peek behind the Iron Curtain and ironically helped lay the foundations for the Pozna Protests. Sino-American relations remained strained amidst the fallout from the Korean War. One year earlier at the Geneva Conference John Foster Dulles had famously refused to shake hands with Premier Zhou Enlai. In Warsaw to protest American hard power China's representatives joined Russian and Japanese young people in a spirited rendition of the song "Never Let the Atom Bomb Explode Again". Building bridges with left-wing Americans sympathetic to Beijing was likewise an important part of the Chinese delegation's strategy. Below the presentation inscription is another reading in Chinese "Long live friendly relations between Chinese and American youth! Liu Meiqing". Quarto. Illustrated throughout in colour and black and white; floral vignette on title page. Text in Russian English and French. Original green boards tan cloth backstrip spine lettered and decorated in black front cover lettered in black blue and white decorative endpapers. Boards sunned one tip worn occasional staining and foxing in text: a very good copy. Martin Parr & WassinkLundgren The Chinese Photobook: From the 1900s to the Present second edition 2016 p. 160-1. hardcover
