Paul French
@chinarhyming.bsky.social
Author, historian, maker of books and radio - Midnight in Peking, City of Devils, Murders of Old China, Peking Noir, The Defectors… Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson now out everywhere. Agent - Aitken-Alexander
The Shanghai Self-Defense Corps (which totalled 2,000 members) parades on Nanking (Nanjing) Road, February 16, 1949. The Corps’ uniform was modelled on the US Army and made from surplus US Army blankets. Photo by Warren Lee….
November 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The Shanghai Self-Defense Corps (which totalled 2,000 members) parades on Nanking (Nanjing) Road, February 16, 1949. The Corps’ uniform was modelled on the US Army and made from surplus US Army blankets. Photo by Warren Lee….
Peter Hill (b.1953-), Shanghai - City Reflections" and "Shanghai - Shimmering Lights".
November 28, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Peter Hill (b.1953-), Shanghai - City Reflections" and "Shanghai - Shimmering Lights".
A camel train leaving Peking, early 1920s by Herbert G Ponting. Camels arrived with coal,fruit, charcoal or vegetables from the Western Hills nearby or from further with tea etc. But, they left with at best some rugs, grass mats (pongs) or small toys and other items for the return journey….
November 27, 2025 at 11:29 PM
A camel train leaving Peking, early 1920s by Herbert G Ponting. Camels arrived with coal,fruit, charcoal or vegetables from the Western Hills nearby or from further with tea etc. But, they left with at best some rugs, grass mats (pongs) or small toys and other items for the return journey….
A Nolasco Tours Macao brochure, for which I don’t unfortunately have a date – seems to be 1950s/
November 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
A Nolasco Tours Macao brochure, for which I don’t unfortunately have a date – seems to be 1950s/
If you happen to live near Sutton Courtenay Churchyard in Oxfordshire and your house is shaking - don’t worry, it’s just Eric Blair spinning furiously in his grave as the total devaluation of the once prestigious prize in his (pen) name…. What a ridiculous thing to do!!
November 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM
If you happen to live near Sutton Courtenay Churchyard in Oxfordshire and your house is shaking - don’t worry, it’s just Eric Blair spinning furiously in his grave as the total devaluation of the once prestigious prize in his (pen) name…. What a ridiculous thing to do!!
Anyone gifting a copy of Her Lotus Year (or any of my books) this Christmas? If you want a signed exlibris bookplate let me know and i’ll get one in the post to you….
November 27, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Anyone gifting a copy of Her Lotus Year (or any of my books) this Christmas? If you want a signed exlibris bookplate let me know and i’ll get one in the post to you….
Three village headmen, Shandong province, c.1910
November 27, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Three village headmen, Shandong province, c.1910
Weihaiwei (Weihai) harbour, Shandong, c.1910
November 26, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Weihaiwei (Weihai) harbour, Shandong, c.1910
A large Chinese junk style rudder, photographed c.1920 - large rudders like this - up to 120ft - were developed long before western style rudders came into widespread use.
November 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
A large Chinese junk style rudder, photographed c.1920 - large rudders like this - up to 120ft - were developed long before western style rudders came into widespread use.
Last few days to access this discount subscription to the excellent @mekongreview.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Last few days to access this discount subscription to the excellent @mekongreview.com
March 1949, Shanghai authorities released convicts from the Shanghai Municipal Jail/Ward Road Gaol (the “Shanghai Bastille”), Tilanqiao. All had served the majority of their 10yr or less sentences. Food was short & the necessary staff to transfer the prisoners as fighting came closer to the city…
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 AM
March 1949, Shanghai authorities released convicts from the Shanghai Municipal Jail/Ward Road Gaol (the “Shanghai Bastille”), Tilanqiao. All had served the majority of their 10yr or less sentences. Food was short & the necessary staff to transfer the prisoners as fighting came closer to the city…
The editorial offices of the Commercial Press in Shanghai, c.1920s by Paul Hutchinson. The building was destroyed in 1932 during the Japanese attack in Shanghai..
November 25, 2025 at 5:40 PM
The editorial offices of the Commercial Press in Shanghai, c.1920s by Paul Hutchinson. The building was destroyed in 1932 during the Japanese attack in Shanghai..
French abstract painter and friend of Picasso, Chagall & Klein, Marcel Mouly ( 1918-2008), “Hong Kong” and “Hong Kong Harbour”, painted c.1996/97 when Mouly visited HK and China for exhibitions at the Shanghai Museum and the Kwai Fung Hin Gallery, Hong Kong.
November 25, 2025 at 4:01 AM
French abstract painter and friend of Picasso, Chagall & Klein, Marcel Mouly ( 1918-2008), “Hong Kong” and “Hong Kong Harbour”, painted c.1996/97 when Mouly visited HK and China for exhibitions at the Shanghai Museum and the Kwai Fung Hin Gallery, Hong Kong.
In 1913 Dr Camillo Karl Schneider went to China to collect plants and seeds for the botanical garden at Průhonice (now Czech Republic). He also took photographs including this one of cormorant fishing, c.1915
November 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
In 1913 Dr Camillo Karl Schneider went to China to collect plants and seeds for the botanical garden at Průhonice (now Czech Republic). He also took photographs including this one of cormorant fishing, c.1915
A toy making factory in Shanghai run by the Commercial Press (primarily a printer and bookstore operator), c.1925, by Paul Hutchinson. Many of these toys were for export.
November 24, 2025 at 8:06 AM
A toy making factory in Shanghai run by the Commercial Press (primarily a printer and bookstore operator), c.1925, by Paul Hutchinson. Many of these toys were for export.
Macao, from the Macao Government Tourism Guide, 1957…
November 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Macao, from the Macao Government Tourism Guide, 1957…
In the manner of Qiu Ying (1494-1552): 'Festival in Chinese Garden', ink and colour on silk, c.17/18th century. Formerly in the collection of Baron Joseph Herry, who served as the Belgian ambassador to Peking in the 1920s, acquired the piece in China and brought it back to Brussels...
November 23, 2025 at 2:57 PM
In the manner of Qiu Ying (1494-1552): 'Festival in Chinese Garden', ink and colour on silk, c.17/18th century. Formerly in the collection of Baron Joseph Herry, who served as the Belgian ambassador to Peking in the 1920s, acquired the piece in China and brought it back to Brussels...
Out now from NYRB Classics - Time Tunnel: Stories and Essays by Eileen Chang, translated from the Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury and Jie Zhang.
November 23, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Out now from NYRB Classics - Time Tunnel: Stories and Essays by Eileen Chang, translated from the Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury and Jie Zhang.
Boy scouts athletics event, May 1937, Canton (Guangzhou), by Kinchue Wong
November 22, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Boy scouts athletics event, May 1937, Canton (Guangzhou), by Kinchue Wong
Join the Cambridge University China Forum for a Fireside Chat and Q&A session with Paul French on Nov 25th The event is free & open to all. Please sign up via the QR code or the link below
🗓️ Tuesday 25th November
🕕 18:00-19:00
📌 Blue Boar Common Room, Trinity College
🔗 fixr.co/event/firesi...
🗓️ Tuesday 25th November
🕕 18:00-19:00
📌 Blue Boar Common Room, Trinity College
🔗 fixr.co/event/firesi...
November 22, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Join the Cambridge University China Forum for a Fireside Chat and Q&A session with Paul French on Nov 25th The event is free & open to all. Please sign up via the QR code or the link below
🗓️ Tuesday 25th November
🕕 18:00-19:00
📌 Blue Boar Common Room, Trinity College
🔗 fixr.co/event/firesi...
🗓️ Tuesday 25th November
🕕 18:00-19:00
📌 Blue Boar Common Room, Trinity College
🔗 fixr.co/event/firesi...
Fishing junk on the West River (Xijiang), southwestern China, c.1935 by TC Lau. The “stone island” behind was created by the fishermen to attract fish swimming upstream. They stand on the island casting their nets to catch the loitering fish.
November 22, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Fishing junk on the West River (Xijiang), southwestern China, c.1935 by TC Lau. The “stone island” behind was created by the fishermen to attract fish swimming upstream. They stand on the island casting their nets to catch the loitering fish.
Two works by Lui Shou-Kwan one of the most prominent Cantonese painters of the 20th century & a founder of the Hong Kong New Ink Movement. What also makes these intreresting is that they come from the estate of Lord Murray Maclehose (1917-2000), the 25th Governor of Hong Kong from 1971 to 1982….
November 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Two works by Lui Shou-Kwan one of the most prominent Cantonese painters of the 20th century & a founder of the Hong Kong New Ink Movement. What also makes these intreresting is that they come from the estate of Lord Murray Maclehose (1917-2000), the 25th Governor of Hong Kong from 1971 to 1982….
A Walter Nichols Chinoiserie carpet. Nichols was a US entrepreneur who designed & made rugs in Tianjin in the 20s & 30s for export to the US. His designs featured Chinoiserie & art-deco motifs. More on Nichols and his fellow American rugmaker in China Helen Fette here - amp.scmp.com/magazines/po...
November 21, 2025 at 8:10 AM
A Walter Nichols Chinoiserie carpet. Nichols was a US entrepreneur who designed & made rugs in Tianjin in the 20s & 30s for export to the US. His designs featured Chinoiserie & art-deco motifs. More on Nichols and his fellow American rugmaker in China Helen Fette here - amp.scmp.com/magazines/po...
Senior Service Cigarettes ad, 'Loch Class Frigate at anchor in Hong Kong Harbour', by John S. Smith, c.1950 (art school graduate who served in the Royal Navy in WW2).
November 20, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Senior Service Cigarettes ad, 'Loch Class Frigate at anchor in Hong Kong Harbour', by John S. Smith, c.1950 (art school graduate who served in the Royal Navy in WW2).
Thomas Francis Wade’s Yü-yen Tzu-erh Chi, A Progressive Course designed to assist the student of Colloquial Chinese, as Spoken in the Capital & the Metropolitan Department; In 8 Parts, 1867. The text was amended into the Wade-Giles romanization system for Mandarin Chinese by Herbert Giles in 1892
November 19, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Thomas Francis Wade’s Yü-yen Tzu-erh Chi, A Progressive Course designed to assist the student of Colloquial Chinese, as Spoken in the Capital & the Metropolitan Department; In 8 Parts, 1867. The text was amended into the Wade-Giles romanization system for Mandarin Chinese by Herbert Giles in 1892