The Birth of a Republic: Francis Stafford’s Photographs of China’s 1911 Revolution and Beyond (Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 2010) is a collection of rare photos of this important historic period.
China’s 1911 Revolution ended both the rule of the 267-year-old Manchu Qing dynasty and the more than 2,000-year-old imperial system, establishing Asia’s first, if not lasting, republic. Because war correspondence was not an established profession in China and the camera was a rare apparatus in Chinese life at the time, photographs of the revolution are rare. Francis E. Stafford (1884-1938), an American working as a photographer for Asia’s largest publishing company, Commercial Press in Shanghai, had unusual access to both sides of the conflict. The Birth of a Republic documents this tumultuous period through Stafford’s photographic eye.
Stafford trained his lens on the leaders of the revolutionaries, the imperial court, and the generals and foot soldiers, as well as on the common people. His images thus capture the stock in trade of war correspondents and photo journalists, but he also documented scenes of everyday life, from the streets of China’s cities to the muddy lanes of its villages, from paddy rice fields to factory workshops, from open-air food markets to the inner chambers of Buddhist temples and Christian churches. His remarkable photographs reveal sweeping social and political change, as well as the tenacity of tradition.
The 162 photographs presented here are from the collection of Stafford’s grandson, Ronald Anderson, and are set in historical and cultural context through an interpretive introduction and extensive captions. This book will appeal to historians and general readers interested in modern China, revolution, and war.
A Man of Two Worlds: The Life of Sir Robert Hart, 1835-1911 (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 2009);
Related websites: http://baike.baidu.com/view/3688783.htm and http://www.amazon.cn/gp/product/B002SXKF34?ver=gp
In A Man of Two Worlds: The Life of Sir Robert Hart, 1835-1911, historian Hanchao Lu presents a biography of Robert Hart, a British subject who served as the Inspector General of China’s maritime customs for nearly half a century (1861-1908). Not only did Hart control part of China’s massive revenue generated from import/export tariffs and commerce, but also he was responsible for establishing China’s modern postal system, building a new pilotage system, and, in an important way, reshaping Chinese foreign policy. Written in Chinese for the China audience, Lu challenges both the Chinese nationalist view of Hart as an agent of Western imperialism and the condescending Euro-centric view of Hart as the forefather of China’s modernization. Lu asserts that there is no doubt that Robert Hart, as the “I.G. in Peking,” was a product of China’s subordinate position in the age of imperialism. And it is also undeniable that Hart placed British national interests first. He did not hesitate to side with his mother country when it came to conflicts of interest between Britain and the Qing empire. But as a longtime high-ranking Chinese official, Hart was also genuinely dedicated to his post. In his own words, “The Service which I direct is called the Customs Service, but its scope is wide and its aim is to do good work for China in every possible direction.” Hart administered the most successful government organization in China, played a significant role in propelling China into the modern world, and performed a delicate balance act for advancing Chinese interests without undercutting Western interests. Twelve years after his entering the Chinese service, Hart claimed that “I shall never leave China contentedly unless I see mines at work, railways in operation and telegraphs spreading. ” He stayed in China for another thirty-five years without completely accomplishing his mission, yet by that time his accomplishments and devotion had already made him the most powerful and influential “hired foreigner” in modern China. Through Hart, Lu prompts readers to revisit the meaning of imperialism and nationalism, the complexity of modernity in the non-Western world, and the contemporary implications of the Western presence in China.
