Re-Thinking the Image of China in Global History
On Wednesday 18th May 2011 The Confucius Institute and the Centre for Chinese Studies at Manchester University welcomed over 110 audience members to the historic John Rylands Library in Manchester for a keynote address by Professor Benjamin Elman, Head of East Asian Studies at Princeton University. Professor Elman was introduced by Professor Alistair Ulph of the University of Manchester and the discussion was chaired by Hugh Davies, Chairman of The China Association and former senior British diplomat in China & Hong Kong. The lecture served as an introduction to the Representing China conference which took place over the following two days but drew a significant public audience in addition to the conference delegates.
Professor Benjamin Elman, Princeton University
The event follows on the heels of the recent discovery of an album of rare 18th Century Chinese prints in the John Rylands Library. The collection, ‘Twenty Views of the Qianlong Emperor’s European Palaces in the Garden of Perfect Brightness’ is a set of 20 prints commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in the 1760s; it was discovered by Dr Yangwen Zheng from the University of Manchester and has been hailed as the UK’s finest example of Qing dynasty art. The European Palaces were designed and built by French Jesuits in the early-mid 18th century and 100 copies of the “twenty views” were printed in Paris. The palaces themselves were destroyed during the Second Opium War in 1860 and there are only four known complete sets of the album in the world today. These are held in the Getty Institute of Fine Art, New York Public Library and the National Library of France. The album discovered in Manchester includes an additional coloured print at the front with jottings, which makes it exceptionally valuable.
Professor Elman discussed these prints in relation to China’s East Asian relations and developments in the representation of China in literature, art and historical narrative within that context. He also discussed the rise of China in a global context and the technological and economic advances that have taken place over the last 300 years.
Delegates arriving at the John Rylands Library
Chair, Hugh Davies addresses the audience in the Historic Reading Room
The lecture itself was well-received and was followed by an engaging and informed Q&A session during which Professor Elman and Hugh Davies took questions from the audience, comprised of academics from a range of UK universities including Oxford and Cambridge, international delegates from the USA, Canada and a range of European institutions as well as members of the public and representatives from the Chinese Consul and various local businesses.
The audience assembled in the Historic Reading Room
The lecture itself was well-received and was followed by an engaging and informed Q&A session during which Professor Elman and Hugh Davies took questions from the audience, comprised of academics from a range of UK universities including Oxford and Cambridge, international delegates from the USA, Canada and a range of European institutions as well as members of the public and representatives from the Chinese Consul and various local businesses.
Following the lecture volunteers from the University of Manchester assembled the audience into groups who were then invited to view the prints themselves in addition to a selection of other valuable items from the Library’s Chinese collection including a first edition copy of the great Kangxi Dictionary. These ‘close-up’ sessions took small groups into the adjacent seminar room, where Dr Zheng and a member of the library collections team gave a presentation on the display.
Delegates view items from the Chinese Collection
The unique colour print of the Qianlong Emoperor’s European Palaces in the Garden of Perfect Brightness
A drinks reception completed the evening where the delegates were free to continue their discussions and were served with a selection of Chinese food specially prepared by chefs at the University of Manchester.
The event was covered by Xinhua News Agency and was widely reported in the Chinese media. Professor Elman was quoted as saying that he was ‘impressed’ by the organisation and the Confucius Institute has received excellent feedback from a great number of delegates who particularly enjoyed the close-up sessions which the John Rylands Library are going to run again in August of this year. The event was extremely well-received and a great success for the University of Manchester and for the Confucius Institute in raising the profile of the Institute and promoting a greater understanding of, and interest in Chinese culture in Manchester.
You can read a version of this article on Hanban's website at
http://english.hanban.org/article/2011-06/01/content_267111.htm
