Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 11-30-2015 12:00 AM Cityscape, Urban Nobodies and War: Modern Transformation of Nianhua in Suzhou-Shanghai Hua Huang The University of Western Ontario Supervisor James A. Flath The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Hua Huang 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Asian History Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, and the Cultural History Commons Recommended Citation Huang, Hua, "Cityscape, Urban Nobodies and War: Modern Transformation of Nianhua in Suzhou- Shanghai" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3385. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3385 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cityscapes, Urban Nobodies and War: Modern Transformation of Nianhua in Suzhou-Shanghai, 1730s-1900s (Thesis format: Monograph) by Hua Huang Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Hua Huang 2015 Abstract This dissertation explores the continuities and ruptures of the nianhua practice and representations in the Suzhou-Shanghai region during the mid-18th – 19th century. It explores a city-based nianhua tradition in Jiangnan’s urban centers that supplements current scholarship, which focuses geographically on northern print centers, economically on village-based production, and thematically on religious, auspicious and moral subjects of universal value. Challenging current scholarship that treats nianhua as a folk tradition rigidly adhering to an established pictorial vocabulary and conventional symbols of religious and moral significance, this study demonstrates the adaptive and innovative energies within the nianhua industry. Taking nianhua as a medium of place-making that actively and innovatively participated in a globalized visual culture and art production, this dissertation explores how 18th century Suzhou nianhua industry developed a special interest in and pictorial language for visualizing its prosperous cityscape, and how that tradition was transformed after the industry was dislocated into post-Taiping Shanghai, where nianhua was adapted to define the treaty-port by addressing issues particularly pertinent to local society. With the importation of Western printing technologies, publishing and image-making practice in late 19th century Shanghai, nianhua’s global interaction was further intensified, and began to develop a style based on pictorial borrowings from China and the West, both contemporary and past. Moreover, an increasing popular awareness of China’s foreign crises created a growing market for depictions of China’s recent wars in late 19th century Shanghai. With the incorporation of battlefields and frontier areas, nianhua’s visual reach ii of territory expanded from the “city” to the “state,” which marked a dramatic departure of the nianhua tradition from a site of city-making to that of nation-making. Keywords: nianhua, woodblock printmaking, Suzhou, Shanghai, city-making, mundane realism, news illustration, nation-making iii TABLE of CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iv List of Figures vi Acknowledgement xi Introduction 1 Defining Nianhua 3 Sources and State of the Field 10 Contribution to the Field 19 Nomenclature 21 Chapter Summary 23 Chapter 1 Gusu Prints: Commercial Sites and Urban Prosperity 25 The Tradition: Countryside Scenic Spots of Suzhou 30 Remapping Suzhou: Urban Prosperity and Commercial / Commercialized Sites 37 Chang Gate 38 Stone Lake 52 Tiger Hill 55 Wannian Bridge 60 Conclusion 64 Chapter 2 Relocation: From Suzhou to Shanghai 66 The Historical Context: A New Geopolitical Economy 67 Shifting Locations of Nianhua Production 71 Shanghai as the Center of Convergence Culture and Nianhua Production 77 Missionary Pictorial Press and Journalistic Illustrations 79 Wu Youru and His World of Print Artists 83 Conclusion 113 Chapter 3 Street Characters: Urban Nobodies or Icon? 114 The Tradition: Streetscapes and Idealized/ Degraded Nobodies 118 Contextualizing the Petty Traders and Street Characters 123 Peddlers 134 Laborers and Artisans 142 The Vagabond 151 Street Theatre 156 Visual Fragments and Urban Icon 163 Conclusion 167 iv Chapter 4 Inauspicious Women: The Grotesque, New Viragos, and Modern Female Professionals 168 The Auspicious Beauty 175 Guanyin as Embodiment of Ultra-Femininity 176 Industrious and Respectable Mothers: Nursing and Weaving 179 Grotesque Women 185 Secularized Guanyin: The Miaoshan Story 187 Sexualized Guanyin: Luoyang Bridge 190 Demoralized Mother 194 Wives: Adulteress- Murderesses 197 Regeneration: Shrews, Factory Workers and Secluded Courtesans 203 The New Shrew 203 Factory Female Worker: Redefining Motherhood and Wifehood 209 Repositioning Courtesans: Secluded Beauties or Professionals? 211 Conclusion 212 Chapter 5 Auspicious War: Picturing Victory at Times of Defeat 214 Imperial War Pictures 217 Pictorial Storytelling: Nianhua Illustration of Fictional Wars 226 Taiping Rebellion (1850-64): Graphic Storytelling of Recent Events 234 Sino-French War (1884-85): Making Heroes, Anticipating Wartime “News” 240 Sino-British Conflicts of 1850s: Guangzhou and the Victory Pictures 241 Sino-French War: News Illustrators or Myth Makers 243 Sino-Japanese War (1894-95): Recycling and Innovation 250 Recycling Sino-French War Images 251 Innovation 256 Conclusion 266 Conclusion 268 Bibliography 273 Curriculum Vitae 290 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Departing at Daybreak at Jinchang, Chen Si, ink and color on paper, 1626, Suzhou 41 Figure 1.2 Chang Gate of Gusu, Baohuixuan zhuren, woodblock print, 1734, Suzhou 42 Figure 1.3Three Hundred and Sixty Trades and Occupations, woodblock print, probably 1734, Suzhou 43 Figure 1.4 The Historic Site of Jinchang, woodblock print, circa 18th century, Suzhou 50 Figure 1.5 Stone Lake of Gusu, Genyan shi, woodblock print, circa 18th century, Suzhou 53 Figure 1.6 Puji Bridge at Shantang on the Mid-Autumn Festival, Taowu xingtaozi, woodblock print, circa 18th century, Suzhou 57 Figure 1.7 Gusu Wannian Bridge, Pingjiang qinzhen, woodblock print, 1740, Suzhou 62 Figure 1.8 Wannian Bridge, woodblock print, 1741, Suzhou 63 Figure 2.1 Acrobatic Performance at Yu Garden, Wu Youru, woodblock print, accessioned 1901- 04, likely reprint of circa 1880s, Suzhou 85 Figure 2.2 Banquet at Yu Garden, Wu Youru, ink and color on paper, 1880, Shanghai 87 Figure 2.3 Picking Plum Blossoms for the New Year, Wu Youru, ink and color on silk, 1864, Shanghai 89 Figure 2.4 French Begging for Peace, Wu Youru, woodblock print, accessioned 1901- 04, likely reprint of 1884, Suzhou/ Shanghai 90 Figure 2.5 Foreign Racecourse, Wu Youru, woodblock print, accessioned 1901- 04, likely reprint of circa 1880s, Suzhou/ Shanghai 92 Figure 2.6 The Tongque Palace, Yuebo xuan zhu, woodblock print, 1900, Shanghai 96 Figure 2.7 Pipa Player, Zhou Muqiao, woodblock print, 1900, Shanghai 97 Figure 2.8 Orchard Gives Birth to Nobel Sons, Zhou Muqiao, woodblock print, 1901, Shanghai 98 Figure 2.9 Official Cap and Belt Handed down from Generation to Generation, Zhou Muqiao, woodblock print, 1903, Shanghai 99 Figure 2.10 Roughhousing in the Nuptial Chamber, Zhou Muqiao, woodblock print, 1900, Shanghai 100 vi Figure 2.11 Ten Famous Courtesans of Shanghai, Zhou Muqiao, woodblock print, 1900, Shanghai 100 Figure 2.12 Twelve Beauties of the Dream of the Red Chamber, woodblock print, accessioned 1901- 04, likely reprint of 1900, Shanghai 101 Figure 2.13 The Shanghai Railway Company Train Departs for Wusong, woodblock print, accessioned 1901- 04, likely reprint of circa 1890s, Shanghai 103 Figure 2.14 Foreign Wedding, woodblock print, circa 1890s, Suzhou/ Shanghai 104 Figure 2.15 Sights on Fuzhou Road in Shanghai’s Foreign Territory, woodblock print, circa 1890s, Shanghai 105 Figure 2.16 Green Lotus Pavilion Teahouse and Opium Den, Zuiju, woodblock print, 1900, Shanghai 107 Figure 2.17 Scenic View of Tiger Hill Lantern Boats, Tian Zilin, woodblock print, circa 1890s, Shanghai 108 Figure 2.18 Hua Bilian Catches Monkey in Siwang Pavilion, Yinmei, woodblock print, circa 1890s, Shanghai 112 Figure 3.1 Beggars and Street Characters, Zhou Chen, details, ink and light color on paper, 1516, Suzhou 123 Figure 3.2 Marketplace Professions and Trades, Songshan Daoren, 1894- 95, woodblock print, Shanghai 132 Figure 3.3 Foreign Woman Rides a Sedan Chair, Songshan Daoren, 1894, woodblock print, Shanghai 133 Figure 3.4 Candy Peddler, Songshan Daoren, 1894, woodblock print, Shanghai 136 Figure 3.5 Orange Peddler, Songshan Daoren, 1895, woodblock print, Shanghai 137 Figure 3.6 Watermelon Peddler, Songshan Daoren, 1894, woodblock print, Shanghai 138 Figure 3.7 Fisherwoman, Songshan Daoren, 1894-95, woodblock print, Shanghai 139 Figure 3.8 Flower Vendor, Songshan Daoren, 1894, woodblock print, Shanghai 141 Figure 3.9 Comb Vendor, Songshan Daoren, 1895, woodblock print, Shanghai 142 Figure 3.10 Ten Funny Scenes, accessioned in 1901-04, likely reprint of circa 1890s, woodblock print, Suzhou 147 vii Figure 3.10 Ten Funny Scenes, detail, accessioned in