New exhibition offers a glimpse into women's lifestyle in Qing Dynasty
2023-07-02 to 2023-07-31
2023-07-02 to 2023-07-31The recent exhibition "Shanghai Genre Painting" at the Minhang District Library is offering a rare glimpse into the life and times of Shanghai women during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
It highlights the impact of Western social development on women throughout the period.
The exhibition will run through July 31, and showcases copies of more than 40 pictorial paintings by Shanghai-style painter Wu Youru. The majority of the work was created by the artist for his Fei Ying Ge Pictorial, a popular news pictorial in the late Qing Dynasty.
Wu was the chief artist in Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial, founded by British merchant Ernest Major in 1884. Wu later quit, and in 1890 set up his own Fei Ying Ge Pictorial.
Both of the pictorials were popular in Shanghai in late Qing. They adopted traditional Chinese painting skills, woodcut print techniques, as well as perspective and anatomy knowledge from Western painting, to portray figures and settings.
Narration took the place of lyricism to become the tone of the pictorial paintings.
Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial included diverse topics such as pain from war, civilian stories, folk stories, world news and foreign cultures. In particular, it introduced Western sci-tech advancements such as trains, warships, cannons, bicycles, telephones, lights and telescopes.
Fei Ying Ge Pictorial carried on the trend of its predecessor to introduce novel sci-tech and cultural aspects from the West to its readers. One of its highlights is the cover picture portraying Shanghai ladies in their colorful lifestyle, doing make-up, playing chess, admiring flowers, feeding silkworms or playing dominos.
The Fei Ying Ge Pictorial stopped its circulation in 1894, and the Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial ceased its publishing in 1898.
Cascade of hair
A nanny helps comb a woman's hair in her bedroom. In ancient China, combs are not only tools for combing hair, but also ornaments. Women liked to insert them above the hair bun, showing the beautiful comb.
Riding on a rickshaw
A woman and a child sit in a double rickshaw, complete with a sunshade. Manpowered tricycles were introduced into Shanghai around 1873. In 1913, to distinguish them from private carriage, the Shanghai Office of Public Works published a regulation that all public tricycles must be painted yellow (private carriages were painted black), hence the name huangbaoche (literally "yellow covered cart").
Climbing high places
On the 16th day of the first lunar month, women climb high places, which is called "walking away from a hundred diseases." Women gather together and climb city walls, cross bridges, or go to the outskirts to drive away diseases and eliminate disasters on this day.
Setting off firecrackers
People set off firecrackers on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The origin of firecrackers can be traced back to the Qin period (221-206 BC), which refers to burning firewood to worship gods and expel evil spirits. The custom of setting off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year became popular in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). Nowadays, in rural areas, people still burn the fireworks to bring good luck.
Going for a drive in the sun
A coachman who sits in the front a canopy-style four-wheel carriage wields the whip to drive the horses while women sit comfortably in the boat-shaped cabin at the back, covered by an umbrella-like carriage canopy to shade themselves from the sun. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was trendy to take a ride in a four-wheel carriage in Shanghai, and it became a major scene in the city.
Exhibition info:
Date: Through July 31
Venue: Minhang District Library
Address: 85 Mingdu Rd
名都路85号