Old China Through G.E Morrison's Eyes - Tapa dura

This book, including more than 500 old photos from the late Qing Dynasty to the early period of Republic of China, is a photograph collection selected from Morrison papers in the State Library of New South Wales of Australia. As an Australian, G. E. Morrison (1862 - 1920) was the resident correspondent of The Times in Peking (1897 - 1912) and the political advisor to the Republic of China (1912 - 1920). He had lived in Peking for more than twenty years and experienced a series of significant historical events in modern china. His dispatches and diaries in a large number were the important materials for studying the Chinese history during that period. He left about 3,000 photographs after his death. Mr. Shen Jiawei, a history painter living in Australia, carefully selected the major parts and carried out a textual research on them. The collection falls into three volumes Morrison of Peking, Catastrophe at the Turn of the Century and Eyewitness of the Reformation, covering the special subjects of record of Incident of 1900, modernized changes in China in the early 20th century, customs from late Qing to early Republic of China, the friendships between Morrison and his servants, and Morrison and the foreigners’circle in China, etc. In addition to the old photos, the compiler also selected a small amount of photos of cultural relics, such as the bill signed and issued by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, the postcard on which the stamp issued by the Qing Government was sealed with the postmark of Republican China, as well as the red calling cards of Li Hung-chang, Ku Hung-ming and some other people. The book provides historical researchers and amateurs with pictured materials objectively. It can be served as a reference book.

Shen Jiawei, a history painter and a portraitist, was born in Shanghai in 1948. He became well-known for his oil paintings Standing Guard for Our Great Motherland (1974) and Red Star over China (1987). He moved to Australia in early 1989. Shen’s works have been collected by many public and private galleries and museums including Chinese National Art Gallery, Chinese National Museum, Australian National Portrait Gallery, Allen Memorial Art Museum of USA, etc. In 1995, Shen won the Australian Mary Mackillop Art Award. In 2005, he was commissioned by the Australian Government to paint an official portrait for the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. Besides painting, Shen has written a number of essays and art reviews. He now lives and works in Bundeena, a village located in Royal National Park of Sydney, with his wife and daughter.