Northumbria Research Link Citation: Humes, Hannah Anne (2018) Politics, religion and pleasure: travel writing about China in the literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle, 1880-1925. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/42845/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/pol i cies.html Politics, Religion and Pleasure: Travel Writing about China in the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle, 1880- 1925 H. A. HUMES PhD 2018 1 Politics, Religion and Pleasure: Travel Writing about China in the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle, 1880- 1925 Hannah Anne Humes A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Research undertaken in the Department of Humanities. February 2018 2 Abstract Founded in 1793, Newcastle’s Literary & Philosophical Society is the largest independent library outside of London, with collections as diverse as its history. Since its founding, travel writing has made up a significant proportion of the society’s collections. By the nineteenth century, connections between the North East and the Far East ranged from industrial, to cultural and religious and this is reflected in the Lit & Phil’s travel writing collections. Until now, however, the significance of Newcastle’s interests in China at the turn of the twentieth century has been neglected in scholarship. Nonetheless, the library’s catalogues demonstrate a continued interest in the acquisition of travel accounts, within which books on China feature in significantly larger numbers than other countries in Asia. This thesis is the first to examine the society’s collection of travel writing in relation to regional interest in China at the turn of the twentieth century. Moreover, I argue that the uniqueness of the collection is a result of this specific historical context of Newcastle. My thesis also provides an original, interdisciplinary model for approaching regional libraries by combining collection-focused methods with close readings of individual items, alongside the historical and regional context of the society. A close reading approach to the books within the collection uncovers the richness of the Lit & Phil’s ‘Travel Writing: China’ and demonstrates how collection analysis alongside a literary approach can upset expectations of regional libraries. This thesis approaches travel writing as read by the members of the Lit & Phil, to demonstrate that the collection is a direct response to the intellectual interest demonstrated by the society’s membership in the early twentieth century, leading to the development of the diverse and unique collection of travel narratives in the Lit & Phil. 3 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents, David and Janice, and my sister, Julia, for their constant love and advice. My deepest gratitude to my husband, David, for his patience and love. My sincerest thanks my supervisors to Katherine Baxter and Helen Williams for their support and kindness. I would also like to thank the staff at the Lit & Phil library. Special thanks to Lyndsey Skinner, Megan Sormus and Megan Holman, Michelle and Martin Gregory who have each contributed to this project in their own way. 4 I declare that the work contained in this thesis has not been submitted for any other award and that it is all my own work. I also confirm that this work fully acknowledges opinions, ideas and contributions from the work of others. I declare that the word count of this thesis is 81,739. Name: Hannah Anne Humes Date: Signature: 5 Contents Page Introduction p.8 China in Newcastle: A History Art and Culture Lord Armstrong and Elswick China to America, via Newcastle National and Regional Images of China Representations of China in Newcastle The Lit & Phil and China Robert Morrison and Lectures at the Lit & Phil The Lit & Phil’s Catalogues Political, Pleasurable and Political Travel Writing Literature Review and Methodology Literature Review The Thesis Chapter One p. 81 Acquiring the Political: Political and Commercial Travel Writing about China in the Lit & Phil Political and Commercial Categorization Political and Commercial Travel Writing in the Lit & Phil Political Understanding of China in Britain at the Turn of the Twentieth Century China and the Present Crisis and Manchu and Muscovite Walton, Viceroys and Port Arthur Putnam Weale and Russian Failings in China Chapter Two p.135 Is it Worth While?’: Missionary Travel Writing about China in the Lit & Phil Missionaries in China and the Lit & Phil’s collection Health & Medicine: Spectacle & Conversion Chinese National Character Through Missionary Eyes Travel Writing and Missionary Experience The Future of China at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Conclusion Chapter Three p.190 Art Imitates Life?: Travelling for Pleasure and Personal Exploration in China Gazing on China Travelling for Pleasure in the Lit & Phil Photographic Process and Chinese Photographers Maugham’s Textual Images of China Images of Poverty The Image of the Coolie Comfortingly ‘Oriental’ Conclusion Conclusion p.255 Appendices Appendix One: Class III. Geography, Voyages and Travels’, Lit & Phil Library 1848 Catalogue, Contents Page p.264 Appendix Two: Catalogue of 1903 Catalogue p.267 Appendix Three: Catalogue of Current ‘Travel Writing: China’ Collection p.274 Bibliography p.285 6 List of Figures Figure 1. ‘The Solen’ Figure 2. Reverend Robert Morrison (1782 – 1834) Figure 3. Sermon Flyer, Newcastle 20 Aril 1824 Figure 4. Accession Note in the Front of B. L. Putnam Weale's The Fight for the Republic in China Figure 5. ‘En Chine Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs’, ‘China - the cake of kings and... of emperors’ Figure 6. ‘Hold On, John!’ Figure 7. ‘The Situation in the Far East’ Figure 8. ‘Sketch Map to illustrate Dr E.H. Edwards “Fire & Sword in Shansi” Figure 9. Meteorological Notes at T’ai Yuan Fu, Shansi, North China’ Figure 10. ‘The Author in Manchu Dress’ Figure 11. Afong’s advertisement in The Daily Advertiser, Hong Kong, Oct.2, 1871 Figure 12. ‘A Mendicant Priest’ Figure 13. ‘A Pai-Fang’ Figure 14. ‘Female Beggar In Mat Hut’ Figure 15. ‘The “Crawlers’ Figure 16. ‘Author’s Trackers at Dinner’ Figure 17. ‘Chinese Boatwoman, Canton’ Figure 18. ‘Chinese Curio Shop, Hong Kong’ 7 Introduction Towards one end of Newcastle’s Westgate road are the elegant buildings of the Literary and Philosophical Society. Entering past the society’s sign, which quietly announces its presence to passers-by, visitors are greeted by marble figures and a grand staircase, ushering up to the Main Gallery of the society’s library. Away from the encouraged conversation of the main library space, past the hatch serving tea and coffee, and down a set of stone steps, are the society’s travel writing collections from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These relatively undisturbed books are key to interpreting the society’s intellectual interests in the rest of the world at the turn of the twentieth century, an interest which is underpinned by the history of Newcastle since the eighteenth century and the Lit & Phil’s steadfast position as a prominent intellectual institution in the North East. The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, or Lit & Phil, as it is commonly known, was founded in 1793 as a debating society and conversation club, by William Turner, a local Unitarian Minister. The Society’s building on Westgate Road has been a feature of Newcastle’s cultural landscape since 1825. Today it is the largest independent library outside of London and holds a unique collection of over 160,000 books. Turner intended that as well as having regional aspirations, the Lit & Phil should also be nationally relevant.1 The founding members of the Lit & Phil had a wide range of interests, demonstrated by the initial schedule of discussions and papers. The introduction to the society’s bicentenary lectures quips that the founding members of the Lit & Phil ‘tried their hands at everything’.2 With the exception of the subjects of 1 Asa Briggs, ‘The Foundation and Subsequent Role of the Society’, in The Lit & Phil Bicentenary Lectures, 1993 (Newcastle: Literary and Philosophical Society, 1994), p.13. 2 John Philipson, ‘Introduction’, in The Lit & Phil Bicentenary Lectures, 1993 (Newcastle: Literary and Philosophical Society, 1994), p.1. 8 politics and religion, which were prohibited by the founding rules, the society encouraged the growth of national and international interests, not least through its investment in the development of the travel writing collections. This thesis will examine the ‘Travel Writing: China’ section housed in the Reference Room at the Lit & Phil. The Reference or ‘Silence’ Room contains travel writing and historical accounts about every corner of the world and is only accessible to members. Its relative seclusion, however, speaks to the fact that the books in this room are in less demand by the members of the society than books housed elsewhere, for example in the more accessible Main Gallery or the James Knott Room. The section at the focus of this thesis comprises travel accounts about China, mostly published or acquired by the library in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, between 1880-1925.