An Analysis of "China Illustrated"

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, Europe witnessed a "China craze," and in the eyes of some Europeans, China was regarded as the "ideal kingdom." Early missionaries to China vigorously promoted in their letters the prosperity and grandeur of Chinese cities, the noble and benevolent nature of the rulers, and the honesty and politeness of the people. Europeans were extremely curious about this Eastern country, and thinkers such as Voltaire praised China for possessing the highest morality. The nobility competed to acquire Chinese artworks, and merchants were eager to admire China's wealth. In this context, the renowned British architect and painter Thomas Allom created a set of watercolor paintings depicting Chinese scenes, which were engraved and published by Fisher, Son & Co. in London in 1843. The content of the engravings was comprehensive, ranging from magnificent royal palaces to exquisite and elegant southern towns, from extravagant and powerful nobles to struggling common people, from busy and lively production activities to sincere and devout worship scenes, from serene and peaceful seaport scenery to tense and fierce battle scenes-all depicted by Allom's delicate brushwork. The album was immediately highly sought after upon its release. Europeans who had never been to China hoped to gain an authentic picture of this ancient Eastern empire through this work. However, unfortunately, Allom himself had never been to China. His portrayal of China was derived half from the "reliable sketches" of those who had traveled to China, and half from his own imagination, or rather, the collective European imagination of China. He unfolded before his audience a series of pictures of Chinese customs in the late Qing Dynasty. While Chinese people have excelled at recording history through words, it is thanks to these Western paintings that our history has become more vivid and comprehensive. We can re-recognize that familiar yet unfamiliar Qing Empire through Western eyes.