A History of China Lost in the West: Late Qing Dynasty 1891-1911 as Recorded by the French [Little Daily]": A color album "Chinese History Lost in the West: Late Qing 1891-1911 Recorded by the French [Little Daily]" gathers the attitude of the French newspaper industry towards China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book reveals the humiliation and sorrow of Chinese history, presenting China in the eyes of the French people at that time through important, color-printed, representative pictures and related reports. It is a journey that is historical, artistic and social, humanistic, and a demonstration of the reader's knowledge.
During this turbulent period from 1891 to 1911, China experienced many important events, such as the Boxer Rebellion, the advance of the Eight-Nation Coalition into Beijing, and the Sino-Japanese War. These events left a deep mark on French newspapers. The Chinese records that have been preserved in French newspapers have selected important pictures and combined them with relevant reports of the time, and the editor has compiled them into this album. The value of this book has been clearly introduced in Yang Kui's preface, which is not only historical, artistic and social humanistic, but also informative and knowledgeable to readers. Reading this album, you can interpret it from a variety of angles. Each picture carries the historical memory of the time and brings people an unforgettable visual impact.
Although the editors have added some background information to make it easier for readers to understand, this has nothing to do with the characteristics of the work itself. This book shows the French intuitive impression of China in that humiliating era. Reading this album, I deeply felt sadness, humiliation and sadness. The pictures in the book are full of bloody images, including Boxers killing foreigners, eight-nation coalition forces killing Chinese, and Qing officials killing Chinese to appease the anger of foreigners. These pictures show the chaos of society at that time and the difficulty of people's lives. Without these pictures, perhaps we would still know the plight of society at the end of the Qing Dynasty, but seeing these pictures, the visual impact is still strong and lasting. We can't imagine how the French felt when they saw such a picture.
As a third party, we may not have much inner turmoil, just as we watch a war abroad in front of the TV. But for the parties, we cannot be calm. The images, which were reported and published in French newspapers, carried a strong contempt in themselves. The Chinese in the picture are more ugly, especially the portraits like Li Hongzhang, the powerful figures of the time, and Empress Dowager Cixi. This ugliness and contemptation is a deliberate expression. We can't blame the reporters in the French media for such a report, because this is the China in their minds. Perhaps they didn't mean it, but it was an impression left on them by the backward and ignorant Qing dynasty. This album "History of China Lost in the West" once again makes us feel the visual impact and inner shock.
It reminds us to be alert to the recurrence of this humiliation. In modern society, we have come out of that humiliating historical period, and China is rising and becoming stronger. However, we must not forget the past, the humiliation and sorrow of that history. This album provides us with an opportunity to re-understand China in that period, to think and understand history from a different perspective. It also reminds us to cherish our current achievements and strive to move China towards a better future. In this era of information explosion, we have more opportunities to understand history and understand the exchanges and collisions between different cultures. This album is one of them, and it allows us to understand that history in a whole new way, to think about China's past and future.
Finally, I would like to ask readers a question: what do you think of this album "A Lost History of China in the West: Late Qing Dynasty 1891-1911 Recorded by the French [Little Daily]"? What do you think of the images and stories? What do you think this book teaches us about history and cherishing the present?