The original historical appearance is reproduced,
From a Western perspective,
Search for modern Chinese history
Chinese History Lost in the West:
The Illustrated London News chronicles the late Qing Dynasty from 1842 to 1873
The original historical journal, 16 open 700 pages of graphics and text reproduction, from the Western news reports to find the modern history of China.
Hardcover double seals, round ridge lock line, this is a delicate and thick historical collection, focusing on creating a dual experience of reading and collecting; the whole book is printed in color, and strives to reproduce the original style of news prints from a hundred years ago.
In 2014, the Times Chinese Literature Bureau published "Lost In the West of China History: The Late Qing Dynasty 1842-1873 Recorded by the London Pictorial News" was published and listed, which was welcomed by readers and affirmed by professional scholars, such as "Southern People Weekly", "Guangming Daily", "China Social Science News" and many other well-known media have also made special reports on the authors and books.
In 2022, the Times Chinese Literature Bureau will update and republish the original work. The new version, from the binding form to the cover design, is completely different from the previous one. This republishment, the paperback is changed to hardcover, the three volumes are combined into one volume, nearly fifty pages of content are added, and the design of the inner and outer double envelopes is adopted, which is better in terms of reading value and collection value, but the pricing remains unchanged.
The author of this book, Professor Shen Hong, is an expert on the history of overseas images for many years, and is the pioneer and founder of the series of books "Chinese History Lost in the West". Over the years, Professor Shen Hong has successively compiled relevant series of books, presenting Chinese historical events and social life in overseas image materials.
The biggest highlight of this book is the first-hand information collected by Professor Shen Hong over the years and directly obtained from the British library, and the original pictures are high-definition and particularly precious. Teacher Shen Hong also directly based on the original manuscript documents for translation and collation, greatly reducing graphic and text errors, he spent ten years, the "London News Illustrated" and China-related text and picture translation collection into a book published, so it became this book.
Compiled by Professor Shen Hong
How do Western societies and overseas news media view China's modern and contemporary history, which is a topic that has been widely concerned and discussed for a long time in the discipline of sociology and journalism and communication, and there is no shortage of historical materials for overseas media on this topic, so why should we pay attention to the media of "London News Illustrated"? Why should we compile and study the contents of The Illustrated London News? How is the media status and content representation of The Illustrated London News reflected?
Perhaps in the 21st century, The Illustrated London News is no longer famous, but a hundred or two hundred years ago, it was definitely a worldwide publication ahead of similar newspapers. It is the world's first "picture" as the main content of the news publication, as early as the invention of photography technology and into the use of news reports, the London News Illustrated with its delicate and vivid dense line woodcuts and lithographs, from custom figures to war sketches, vividly show the world at the time, its events, its people, its scenes, in the non-information age with amazing painting skills and communication speed to complete the report.
The original newspaper of the Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was founded in 1842 at the beginning of the Opium War, the beginning of a change in fate in the late Qing Dynasty. From the very beginning, the London Illustrated News paid close attention to the late Qing Empire, dispatched a large number of painters and reporters, and successively sent back thousands of sketches and hundreds of thousands of words of text reports on China to Britain, completely recording the fate trajectory of the late Qing Dynasty.
Most of these precious graphic materials are eyewitness reports of the scene and belong to the first-hand original materials. Their records and views on the historical events of this period are often ignored in Chinese historical materials, and some of the events they report and the details of Chinese social life are often blind spots in Chinese historical materials, and the systematization and continuity of their reports are also unattainable by many other Chinese and Western historical materials.
Therefore, although there are many books on modern Chinese history and many professional works, this book is very different. Although it is about the history of two centuries ago, relying on the original appearance of a large number of precious pictorial materials from the same period, the reader can more intuitively understand what kind of scene the history narrated by the text is. At the same time, because it is the history of China recorded in the West, the historical data can be preserved relatively perfectly, the history of the time can be presented in its original appearance, and the narrative perspective is very different from that of the national history books, which is an extremely precious opportunity for Chinese readers to expand their horizons and enhance their understanding of the world.
Mainstream modern history mainly focuses on the people and events that have a relatively large impact on history, but this book is all-encompassing, recording big people and big events at the same time, but also recording many small people and small events.
Perhaps for the torrent of history, these are insignificant, but they make the grand and serious history vivid, vivid, concrete, and three-dimensional.
The late Qing Dynasty was more than opium and guns
In addition to the smoke of war, the destruction of mountains and rivers in the country, there are natural scenery, humanistic architecture, city conditions, strange people and strange things; the scenes are not only diplomatic talks, opium trade, war smoke, terms and conditions, but also the emperor's wedding, the assassination of the governor of Macao, the Chinese to participate in the World Expo...
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Not just Beijing and Guangzhou
In addition to the capital and the thirteen lines of Guangzhou, there are also Shanghai, Ningbo, Nanjing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, London, Egypt, Manila through which the British army passes; in addition to the terrain fortress, the naval division warship, the port trading house, there are also mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, special utensils and things... The intersection of East and West reflects the history of the late Qing Dynasty.
The Empire is not limited to emperors and vassals
Soldiers, envoys, merchants, tea girls, pirates, embroidered women, boatmen, Taiping Rebellion, Chinese families at the Chinatown Museum in London, ordinary opium smokers... The historical life of people of different identities is concrete, and the little people are also worth recording. They are no longer just historical foils that have been brushed over in other historical sources.
Although this is a history book, because it is a collection of news reports and printmaking sketches more than a hundred years ago, this book can be said to be a model of the combination of historical knowledge and image art, and has the dual value of news reporting and printmaking art.
Authoritative figures from all walks of life, such as historians, art circles, and old photo publishing circles, have made professional recommendations for this book. Ma Yong, a famous historian and director of the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Chen Qi, of the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, wrote a preface to the London News Illustrated from the direction of history and fine arts. In addition, Feng Keli, editor-in-chief of domestic first-line old photo magazines, well-known scholars Lei Yi, Yu Shicun, Xie Xizhang, Yang Tianshi and many other authoritative figures have written recommended words for this purpose. The large number of exquisitely produced copperplate illustrations and sketches with a sense of scene not only show a broad picture of secular social life in China in the 19th century, but also provide a large number of models for the study of the art of news documentary copperplate engraving.
Du Junli, a general history writer and commentator, may have a relatively comprehensive evaluation of this book:
Illustrated London News was not the official newspaper of the British Empire, it was not only civil, but global. From its inception in 1842 until its closure in 2003, this century-old store has always adhered to a credible and neutral journalistic ethic... More than 100 years later, when we look back at these exquisitely made print illustrations and sketches with a sense of presence, it is like an immersive crossing, and what is unfolding in front of us is not only a broad picture of the secular social life of old China, but also these vivid news records, which are all exquisite printmaking art masterpieces.
Although the history recorded in the West is not necessarily true and accurate, and the views and opinions on some historical events are different from those in Chinese historical materials, some of the events they report and the details of all aspects of Chinese society are often blind spots in the historical materials Chinese, and the images will also make a relatively honest freeze on history.
Text/Li Weiliang