China's Loss of Face

Sir Robert Hart (1835-1911), British adviser to the Qing, wrote in 1876: "The country begins to feel that Government consented to arrangements by which China has lost face; the officials have long been conscious that they are becoming ridiculous in the eyes of the people, seeing that where a foreigner is concerned they can neither enforce a Chinese right, nor redress a Chinese grievance, even on Chinese soil."

‘Loss of face’ (a Chinese expression) is addressed by Robert Bickers’ article China's Age of Fragility, published in the March issue of History Today. China rises above its 19th-century humiliation by drawing attention to insulting imperial behaviour rather than ignoring it.

Robert Bickers made a number of good picture suggestions, including one of David Cameron in Beijing last year wearing a remembrance poppy, which he was asked to remove because of its association with the Opium Wars. He also mentioned European collections owning relics looted in 1860 from the Old Summer Palace in Peking, but I had to dig a bit further to find exactly what. I discovered that Yves Saint Laurent owned a couple of zodiac animal heads from a fountain, which were sold at auction in 2009. I was able to find a photograph of the auction, an 18th-century Castiglione engraving of the palace fountain with heads in situ and a shot of Chinese tourists photographing the ruins of it today. In the end though there wasn’t room to tell this whole story because so much else needed to be included.

It was quite a subtle article to illustrate in order to offer a visual balance and avoid a Eurocentric view. Cartoons needed to reflect differing international and Chinese positions on any situation or the illustrations would have missed the whole point of the article.

Hart was a pivotal character, well-thought-of and honoured by both Britain and China, and I was delighted to find, in the files at the Hulton Archive, this cartoon of him in Chinese robes, published in Vanity Fair in December 1894, which underlined the point. Vanity Fair’s description ends: He is a very excellent relation; he is quite a ladies’ man; and he is a capital host though his taste in wine might be better.  He does not dress well, and his hats are an abomination.