Abstract
This chapter evaluates the role of photography in witnessing the modernising
process in China during the late Qing period and conflicts which stemmed from it. The camera, introduced in China during the First Opium War (1839-1842), allowed Western eyes to record the establishment of trade routes and associated facilities. The photos examined here were taken immediately before and during the Russo-Japanese War. The photographs appear to have been focusing on technological developments in trade infrastructure, but they also captured the conspicuous Japanese and Russian military presence. Consequently, the photographs reveal the Western role in the «development» of China by its incorporation into global trading networks and violent conflicts fought over control of this infrastructure.
process in China during the late Qing period and conflicts which stemmed from it. The camera, introduced in China during the First Opium War (1839-1842), allowed Western eyes to record the establishment of trade routes and associated facilities. The photos examined here were taken immediately before and during the Russo-Japanese War. The photographs appear to have been focusing on technological developments in trade infrastructure, but they also captured the conspicuous Japanese and Russian military presence. Consequently, the photographs reveal the Western role in the «development» of China by its incorporation into global trading networks and violent conflicts fought over control of this infrastructure.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | East and West entangled (17th-21st Centuries) |
| Editors | Rolando Minuti, Giovanni Tarantino |
| Place of Publication | Florence |
| Publisher | Florence University Press |
| Pages | 137-158 |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9791221502435 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9791221502411 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Publication series
| Name | Connessioni. Studies in Transcultural History |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Firenze University Press |
| ISSN (Print) | 2975-0393 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2975-0261 |
Keywords
- photography
- China
- Russo-Japanese War
- infrastructure
- trade
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
Access to Document
- Captured glimpses of modernity and war in late Qing China
Copyright 2023 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.