West Meets East

Description

Images of China and Japan, 1570 to 1920.

West Meets East is based on a physical exhibition curated by Special Collections, that was on display from 10 February - 26 May 2006. It presents a selected number of written and photographic accounts by European travellers to China and Japan. The exhibition includes works held at Special Collections and the Hocken Collections, University of Otago.

Contributor

Various collectors

Collection Items

Life in the Chinese Royal Household [01].
A rare 1880s illustration on pith-paper of a scene in the Chinese Royal household.

A succinct account of the adventures of Mr William Adams.
William Adams (1564-1620) was the first Englishman to reach Japan, arriving on a Dutch ship at Bungo (a principality containing present day Usuki City) in May 1600. After a summons by the Emperor at Osaka, imprisonment and interrogation, he was…

The oriental voyager [title page].
Surgeon James Johnson (1777-1845) was on board the 36 gun ship Caroline, commanded by B. W. Page. Dedicated to Henry Lord Viscount Melville, this work contains a topographical and picturesque sketch of all the places annually visited by the British…

The most noble and famous travels of Marco Polo [title page].
Apart from the general interest attaching itself to an Elizabethan translation of the Travels of Marco Polo, the present edition aims at supplying a long-felt want in Polian research - a series of maps embodying the latest work and discoveries of…

The most noble and famous travels of Marco Polo [title page of the first edition].
At the age of seventeen, the Venetian Marco Polo (1254-1324) travelled with his merchant father, Nicolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, to the court of Kublai Khan. Polo was away from Venice for twenty-four years. His account of his travels and of the Peking…

An authentic account of an embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China ...
In 1792, George, Lord Macartney was appointed Ambassador to the Emperor of China. His prime objective was to negotiate a treaty of commerce and friendship, and to establish a resident Ministry at the court of the Emperor at Peking (Beijing).…

Novissima Sinica [title page].
'I consider it a singular plan of the fates that human cultivation and refinement should today be concentrated, as it were, in the two extremes of our continent, in Europe and in Tshina (as they call it), which adorns the Orient as Europe does the…

Ixos Haemorrhous - (Gmelin).
"In Mr Heine's notes we find the following in reference to this bird: 'I found this species in various places around Macao. Like nearly all the other birds, it had retired to the rocky hills, where it hopped gaily from bough to bough, or flitted…

Japanese women, Simoda.
From the middle of the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth-century, Japan, through the Tokugawa Shōgunate, was successful in rigorously enforcing a policy of seclusion. No Europeans were allowed into Japan except the Dutch who were…

The Embassadors Entry Through the Famous Chinese Wall : near 1200 miles in length [detail].
"The Wall is full six Fathom high, and four thick, so that six Horsemen may easily ride a-breast on it, and was in as good Repair as if it had not been erected above twenty or thirty Years since; no Part of it being fallen, nor annoyed by the least…

Chinese Vessels.
This detail shows "two of the vessels made use of by the Chinese. The first of these marked (A), is a junk of about a hundred and twenty tons burthen, and was what the Centurion hove down by; these are most in the great rivers, though they sometimes…

The city of Yedo or Edo (now Tokyo) [detail].
Between 1630 and 1830 Japan's borders were virtually closed to western visitors. The only Europeans allowed into Japan were the Dutch. Atlas Japannensis: being remarkable addresses by way of embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces…

Garden of the temple at lewchew.
"About this period a mutual friendship began to exist between us; confidence took place of timidity; and now, instead of permitting only a few to visit the shore at a time, they fitted up the garden of a temple as a sort of general arsenal for us;…

Modus Scribendi.
"The Society of Jesus was founded in 1539 by St Ignatius of Loyola. From their base at Goa, India, the Jesuits ventured forth to Japan and China: their goal to spread Christianity and promote the work of the Society. Over the years, their written…

The serpent with eight heads.
Chirimen books are thought to have been invented in August 1885, when a Japanese fairy tale series was published by Hasegawa Takejiro (1853-1936). The books were illustrated by Sensei Eitaku. Thirty-one popular Japanese folktales were translated…

The Matsuyama Mirror.
Chirimen books are thought to have been invented in August 1885, when a Japanese fairy tale series was published by Hasegawa Takejiro (1853-1936). The books were illustrated by Sensei Eitaku. Thirty-one popular Japanese folktales were translated…

Tongue cut sparrow.
Chirimen books are thought to have been invented in August 1885, when a Japanese fairy tale series was published by Hasegawa Takejiro (1853-1936). The books were illustrated by Sensei Eitaku. Thirty-one popular Japanese folktales were translated…

The Tea Industry in China [12].
This painting, which depicts pickers unloading their baskets is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea Industry in China [11].
This painting, which depicts two men standing in chests of tea is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea Industry in China [10].
This painting which shows one of the machines used in the tea-industry is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea Industry in China [09].
This painting which shows workers securing the lids on boxes of tea being sampled inside by two men is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea Industry in China [07].
This painting is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea industry in China [06].
This painting which shows workers drying the tea leaves is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea industry in China [05].
This painting which shows workers carrying tea in boxes to be sampled by two men is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the tea industry in China.

The Tea industry in China [04].
After the tea has been dried so that it is brittle and black, it is ready for the final process of sifting. The tea is screened through a sieve before it is put into storage boxes. This painting is one of a set of colorful paintings depicting the…
View all 63 items

Collection Tree