From 1700 to 1870, the Pearl River Delta changed its trade orientation from Macao to Canton to Hong Kong. The maps, city views, and photos in this exhibition reflect this change of settings, against the backdrop of an enormous change in the balance of economic and political power between China and Europe.

The display presents European coastal maps of Southern China and city views of Macao and Canton before the Opium War. They show the European side of the Canton trade system, which saw China as the Celestial Empire on one side, and a large number of competing European maritime commercial powers such as England, France, and the Netherlands on the other.

Early images of Hong Kong are revealed in a series of engravings and photographs. They include one rare set of early panoramic engravings of Hong Kong and its surrounding area, from Kowloon to Lantau; and a set of three landscape photographs of mid-nineteenth century Hong Kong recently acquired by the Library.

The last part of the exhibition is dedicated to cartography. It consists of both Western and Chinese maps from 1800 to 1870, including two Western maps related to the First and Second Opium Wars. Two beautifully colored “traditional” Chinese maps, one printed one manuscript, are contrasted with contemporary Western maps, as well as with reproductions of other more “scientific” Chinese maps, to provide a deeper understanding of late Imperial Chinese cartography going beyond the simplified view of Chinese tradition versus European modernity.

The tours will be guided by Dr Marco CABOARA, Digital Scholarship and Archives Manager in the Library. He is an Italian scholar with a background in history of East-West interactions and Classical Chinese linguistics.

In the tours, Dr CABOARA will introduce original maps, city views, and photos of Macao, Canton and Hong Kong from 1700 to 1870, showing the changes in trade and the impact of the Opium Wars on the region. Dr CABOARA will discuss the background and the visual features of these valuable and fascinating images, and also explain the other theme of the exhibition, the different views of the world and the different technologies shown by Chinese and Western maps at the start of the European expansion in the region.

Dates

• 28 Sep 2017 1-2 pm
• 24 Oct 2017 1-2 pm
• 23 Nov, Mon, 1-2 pm
• 12 Dec, Tue, 1-2 pm
• 18 Jan, 2018, Thu, 1-2 pm
• 27 Feb, Tue, 1-2 pm (canceled)
• 6 Mar, 2018, Tue, 1-2 pm
• 21 Mar, 2018, Wed, 12-1 pm
• 11 Apr, 2018, Wed, 12-1 pm

Remarks: HKUST students may attain 1 hour credit for the HLTH1010 Healthy Lifestyle Course after attending the guided tour. Please show SID card on arrival.