Photography in the Late Qing Dynasty: A Comparative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v8i.4218Keywords:
Late Qing Dynasty, Photography, Chinese and Western photographers.Abstract
Photography was introduced to China in the early 1840s. The early Western photographers in China were mainly driven by artistic pursuit or curiosity of the Orient. This paper argues that the artistic value of photography was higher and the purpose of photography was simpler during the first years of its introduction to China than the late nineteenth century when photography was increasingly associated with colonialism. The situation of Western photography in China changed profoundly in the latter decades of the nineteenth century: photography began to serve colonialism, and photographers became accomplices of the colonizers. In addition, this paper also addresses the experience of Zou Boqi, the first Chinese photographer, who combined traditional Chinese knowledge with Western science and produced the first Chinese camera in 1844. Both Chinese and Western photography have evolved as the technology advanced over time. However, Chinese and Western photographers differed greatly in their techniques, motivations, and choices of subject.
Downloads
References
Ke Yi, The History of Photography (Chongqing: Chongqing Press, 2008),10.
Wen.Chen, “On John Thomson's Three Gorges Image Examination,” Journal of Chongqing Three Gorges College vol 34 no.3 (2018):10, accessed, October 11, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Di Li and Shangzhu Bai, “Zou Boqi: A Pioneer of Modern Science in China,” Studies in the History of Natural Sciences vol 3 no.4(1984):378-390, accessed, October 11, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Jingyi Xu, “The Development of Photographic Technology and the Changing Concepts of Images in the Nineteenth Century” (MD diss., Heilongjiang University, 2007),45-46.
Terry Bennett, A History of Chinese Photography: 1842-1860, (Beijing: China Photography Press, 2011), 3.
Alphonse Eugène Jules Itier, 1848. “Journal d'un voyage en chine (Journal of a Trip to China),” Dauvin et Fontaine vol.2(1848): 224, accessed, October 20, 2021, https://xueshu. baidu.com/usercenter/paper/showpaperid=398196f60aa 7 86e6fa382426ad547037&site= xueshu_se.
Haijian Mao, “The Opium War and the Treaty of Inequality,” Historical Research vol48 no.4(1992), 11-12. accessed, October 8, 2021China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Itier, 226.
John Wood, Daguerreotype Silver Plate and Landscape Photographs (Nanjing: Yilin Press, 1995), 25. accessed, November 1, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Wen Chen,10. Ibid. ,12.
Xin Jia, “The First Western Photographer Who Documented China,” in Civilization no.7(2009):21. accessed, November 8, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Xu,48-50.
Rannao Tao , “Felice Beato: The First Photographer to Photograph Beijing” Xin LangBlog（blog）, July 2, 2014, http:// blog.sina.com.cn /s/blog_538 fed 5d0102 uwta.html.
Wuai Nan, “The East is a Way to Make a Living - Reading ‘Felice Beatto: Photographer on the Road to the East’,” Chinese Photography, no.4(2011): 90-92, accessed, November 19, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Zhao Yin, Gen Li, and Jichao Zhang, “The Pleasure of Studying Yang Sui Mirror” Collection and Investment no.6 (2018), 83. accessed, November 21, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Xiang Li, “The father of Chinese photography Zou Boqi.” Children's Chinese studies no.16(2021):14, accessed, November 23, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Boqi Zou, Chronicle of the Photographic Apparatus (Manuscript, 1844).
Shu Zhao, “The First Small Photographs Belonging to the Keying’s Family,” Manchu Minority Research, no.4 (1992):44, accessed, November 24, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Rui Wang, “The Historical Imprints and Political Narratives of Qing Palace Photography,” Art Museums in Contemporary Culture no.1 (2009):53, accessed, November 25, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Guohua Wang, “Photographs of the Concubine Zhen Fei,” Manchu Minority Research, no.3(1986):138. accessed, November 27, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
ShiCun Yu, “Anecdotes of Cixi's Image,” Friends of Science Amateurs no.10(2014):86, accessed, November 27, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Lihui Dong, “The Foreign Propaganda and Cross-Cultural Communication of Cixi Portraits in the Early 20th Century,” Art and Design Research, no.1 (2018): 110, accessed, December 2, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Xinya Zhu, “The problem of the relationship between the Oil portrait of Cixi and Her Photographs,” Hu Bei Institute of Fine Arts Journal, no.4(2019):24, accessed, December 3, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Feng Wu, “Chinese Exhibitors at the 1904 St. Louis Commodity Exposition and Its Historical Impact,” Journal of Customs and Trade vol 41 no.3 (2020):67, accessed, December 3, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Yu, Anecdotes of Cixi’s Image,87. Ibid.
Anni Su, “Why Xun Ling Became the First Imperial Photographer of the Qing Palace” (2020):64, accessed, December 7, 2021, Symposium on classroom teaching and education reform in 2020, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Zhufeng Deng, Jiangping Liang, and Guangsen Huang, “The Father of Chinese Camera: Zou Boqi, ‘Newton’ of the Qing Dynasty,” G Guangzhou Daily, October 24, 2009, accessed, December 100, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Yin,82.
Bennett, Terry, A History Chinese Photography: 1842-1860, (Beijing: China Photography Press, 2011), 3.
Chen Wen., “On John Thomson's Three Gorges Image Examination,” Journal of Chongqing Three Gorges College vol 34 no.3 (2018):10, accessed, October 11, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Dong Lihui , “The Foreign Propaganda and Cross-Cultural Communication of Cixi Portraits in the Early 20th Century,” Art and Design Research, no.1 (2018): 110, accessed, December 2, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Deng Zhufeng , Jiangping Liang and Guangsen Huang, “The Father of Chinese Camera: Zou Boqi, ‘Newton’ of the Qing Dynasty,” Guangzhou Daily, October 24, 2009, accessed, December10, 2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Itier Alphonse Eugène Jules , 1848.“Journal d'un voyage en chine (Journal of a Trip to China),” Dauvin et Fontaine vol.2(1848):224, accessed, October 20,2021, https:// xueshu. baidu. com/usercenter/paper/show?paperid =398196f60aa 7 86e6fa382426ad 547037 &site= xueshu_se.
Jia Xin , “The First Western Photographer Who Documented China,” in Civilization no.7 (2009): 21.accessed,November8,2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Li Di and Shangzhu Bai , “Zou Boqi: A Pioneer of Modern Science in China,” Studies in the History of Natural Sciences vol 3 no.4(1984):378-390, accessed, October11, 2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructrue.
Li Xiang ,“The father of Chinese photography Zou Boqi.” Children's Chinese studies no.16 (2021):14,accessed,November23,2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Haijian Mao, “The Opium War and the Treaty of Inequality,” Historical Research vol48 no.4(1992), 11-12. accessed, October 8, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructrue.
Wuai Nan, “The East is a Way to Make a Living - Reading ‘Felice Beatto: Photographer on the Road to the East’,” Chinese Photography, no.4(2011): 90-92, accessed, November19, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Su Anni, “Why Xun Ling Became the First Imperial Photographer of the Qing Palace,” (2020):64, accessed, December7, 2021, Symposium on classroom teaching and education reform in 2020, China National Knowledge Infrastructrue.
Tao Rannao , “Felice Beato: The First Photographer to Photograph Beijing” Xin LangBlog（blog） , July2,2014, http:// blog.sina.com.cn /s/blog_538 fed 5d0102 uwta.html.
Wood John , Daguerreotype Silver Plate and Landscape Photographs (Nanjing: Yilin Press, 1995), 25. accessed,November1,2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructrue.
Wang Rui ,“The Historical Imprints and Political Narratives of Qing Palace Photography,” Art Museums in Contemporary Culture no.1 (2009):53, accessed, November 25, 2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Wang Guohua, “Photographs of the Concubine Zhen Fei,” Manchu Minority Research, no.3 (1986):138. accessed, November 27, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Wu Feng,“Chinese Exhibitors at the 1904 St. Louis Commodity Exposition and Its Historical Impact,” Journal of Customs and Trade vol 41 no.3 (2020):67, accessed, December3, 2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Xu Jingyi, “The Development of Photographic Technology and the Changing Concepts of Images in the Nineteenth Century” (MD diss., Heilongjiang University, 2007),45-46.
Yi Ke, The History of Photography (Chongqing: Chongqing Press, 2008),10.
Yin Zhao, Gen Li , and Jichao Zhang, “The Pleasure of Studying Yang Sui Mirror” Collection and Investment no.6 (2018), 83. accessed, November21, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Yu Shi Cun, “Anecdotes of Cixi's Image,” Friends of Science Amateurs no.10 (2014):86, accessed, November 27, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Zou Boqi, Chronicle of the Photographic Apparatus (Manuscript, 1844).
Zhao Shu, “The First Small Photographs Belonging to the Keying’s Family,” Manchu Minority Research, no.4 (1992):44, accessed, November24, 2021, China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Zhu Xinya, “The problem of the relationship between the Oil portrait of Cixi and Her Photographs,” Hu bei Institute of Fine Arts Journal,no.4(2019):24, accessed, December3, 2021,China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
