|
Good sized Chinese export porcelain
dish with under glaze blue and white decoration with a
well executed birds eye's view of the City of Guangzhou
(Qianlong period 1736-95). Overall length c. 15.5 inches
(39.5 cm).
Notes from my Visit in July 2006:
This month when the rebuilt Swedish ship 'The East
Indiaman Gotheborg' finally arrived to Guangzhou or as
it formerly was known as to westerners - Canton - it
feels extra relevant to point some attention to this
very rare, large dish, with a decoration portraying the
city of Canton in the 18th century.
On this dish many of the landmarks can be recognized,
such as the 'Five Storey Pagoda', which was a part of
the city wall and are still standing today. Of the six
most prominent landsmarks visible on the dish, I will
here try to suggest which these could be. There are many
old and significant sites to choose from in particular
if we consider those that now are gone but was still
there at the time when this decoration was conceived.
Most every place in the decoration seem to carry a
meaning while of course a number of houses are there to
just signify buildings. Today however many of the old
temples and palaces as well as most of the city wall is
gone.
Any exact source for the decoration of this dish is
not known, but as a comparison and to show a similar
birds eye view, I would like to point towards an album
leaf in the collection of the Swedish China Castle in
Stockholm, dating to the 1740s. In this picture we can
find a high degree of similarity and also make out some
of the buildings.
Map of Canton, in the collection of
China Castle, Stockholm. In the group of houses to the
left on this picture were the 'factories' or merchant
offices rented by the western East india companies to be
used for their businesses while in Canton (Guangzhou).
These house facades was often depicted on export
paintings and porcelain with western flags outside them.
These houses can not individually be seen on this
paining.
The city of Guangzhou (Canton) - A background
For close to two thousand years this area was China's
most important seaport and the starting point of the
maritime 'Silk Road'. Guangzhou (formerly Canton and now
a modern city of 10 million just 75 miles up the Pearl
River from Hong Kong) hosted merchants from Rome and
India as early as the second century A.D. and has long
been intertwined with Western powers. In 1514, the
Portuguese arrived and finally settled on Macao, just
outside the river entrance. The Dutch followed, to
settle in Jakarta in Java, then the British East India
Company, who in 1711 established a trading post in
Guangzhou. This was shortly followed by many European
nations who through their many East India Companies
esatblished trading factories in Guangzhou and anchored
their ships just nearby, down at the Huangpu village, or
Whampoa, as it was called back then.
In the late 1850's, during the second Opium War,
British and French forces finally established colonial
rule over the city, making an island for themsleves out
of a sand bank in the river, called 'Sandy Face' - or
Shamian. After the Qing dynasty fell in 1911, Sun
Yat-sen, the father of today's China and a native
son of Guangzhou, established here the headquarters of
the Nationalist Party, then briefly, the nation's
capital.
City, estimated population (2003): 4,653,131, capital
of Guangdong province, China. Located on the Zhu (Pearl)
River about 80 miles (130 km) from the sea, it is
southern China's chief port. Incorporated in the Chinese
empire in the 3rd century BC, it later became an
important city under the Ming dynasty. The first Chinese
seaport opened to foreigners, it was regularly visited
by Arab and Hindu traders.
Guangzhou's resistance to the English opium trade led
to war (1839-42), and it was occupied by the British and
French in 1856-61. Guangzhou was one of the five Chinese
treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing (signed in
1842) at the end of the First Opium War between United
Kingdom and China. The other ports were Fuzhou, Xiamen,
Ningbo and Shanghai. In 1918, "Guangzhou" became the
official name of the city, when an urban council was
established in Guangzhou and Panyu became a county's
name south of Guangzhou. In the late 19th century it was
the seat of revolutionary political ideas promoted by
the Nationalist Party. In 1938 Guangzhou was bombed and
then occupied by Japanese troops until September 16,
1945. Its industrial growth subsequently expanded, and,
with China's renewed ties to the West, it was designated
as one of several economic investment areas for
foreigners in 1984. One of China's largest cities, its
expanding economy added to the region's growth.
It is believed that the first city in this area was
built in 214 BC, and called Panyu (the locals pronounced
this in Cantonese as Poon Yu) and have had a continuous
occupation since that time. In 206 BC, it became the
capital of Kingdom Nanyue, and the city was expanded.
In 111 BC the North Chinese 'Han Dynasty' annexed
Nanyue and Panyu became a provincial capital to remains
so until today. In 226 AD, Panyu became the seat of the
Guang Prefecture (Guangzhou). Therefore, "Guangzhou" was
the name of the prefecture, not of the city. However,
people had grown accustomed to calling the city
Guangzhou, instead of Panyu.
The decoration of the dish is set against a
background of a montainous area. This is the White Cloud
Mountain area, a mountain range located 7.5 km northeast
of Guangzhou, an offshoot of Dayu Ling, the main
mountain range of Guangdong province. The White Cloud
Mountain consists of some 30 peaks covering a large
area. The highest peak, Moxing Ridge (The Ridge that
Reaches the Stars) is with its 382 meters regarded as
"the First Peak under the Southern Sky". Descriptions of
the beauty of the lush and tropical nature of the
Guangzhou area often refer to "pearly water and white
clouds". The name of the mountain area is derived from
the white clouds that often fly over it. The magnificent
scenery and abundance of historical relics have made
this a famous scenic spot in Guangzhou since ancient
times. It is today a park with natural hills and waters,
ideal for sightseeing and as a summer resort, with a
history of development of over 1,000 years. Locations
such as 'Wind Soughing in the Pines on White Cloud
Mountain', 'Pujian Spring', and 'Looking Afar in the
Evening from White Cloud Mountain', the 'Returned Monk
at Jingtai', the 'Splendid Mountain of Cloud', etc. are
all famous scenic spots in this mountain. Renowned poets
and scholars of past dynasties, such as Sushi, Yang
Wanli, Wang Shizhen and others have once came here and
written their experiences in poetry and prose for
posterity.
1. Top right, Zhen Hai Lou, 'Zhen hai
tower' or the Five Storey Pagoda
Top left on the dish and at the far north end of an
imaginary line the old city of Canton was oriented
after, we still today find the Zhenhai Tower or,
the five storey pagoda. The height it is built on is the
Yuexiu Hill. It offers a splendid view of both the City
of Guangzhou to the south and the northern suburbs on
the other side of the hill. The tower is 28 metres high
and was built in 1380 by Zhu Liangzu during the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644), to flaunt his power and the
obsession that 'he was able to shake the seas and the
mountains'.
During its more than 600 year long history the tower
has been destroyed and rebuilt five times. The tower now
houses the City Museum and exhibit the history of
Guangzhou from Neolithic times till the early part of
the 20th century. British and French troops occupied the
tower during the Opium Wars on account of its strategic
location. A number of cast iron cannons that can be
found near the tower are from that time.
To get up to it is a bit of a hassle for a westerner
if you don't do this within a tour that stops right
outside. Taxis or private cars does not seem to be
allowed and the climate in Guangzhou is subtopic which
translates to *very warm* during the summer and up to
99% air humidity. On pictures this look all lush and
green, but actually walking here takes all you got and
the feeling leaves nothing as compared to a tropical
rain forest. It is hard to believe that temperatures can
actually drop towards freezing in the winter.
The oldest city of Guangzhou were
oriented along an imaginary north - south line along
which many important buildings were located. At the far
north end of that line, on the Yuexiu Hill, the Zhenhai
Tower or the Five Storey Pagoda was located at least as
much for fengshui purposes as for defence.
A number of old cast iron cannons
of unmistakable 18th century model are said to date to
the opium wars in the 1840-60s. Chinese junks and pirate
ships until at least early 20th century was known to
utilze this outdated armory for as well their defence as
well as offence.
2. The Flowery pagoda and the Six Banyan Tree
Temple
To the bottom left section of the dish, there is a
pagoda with seven visible roofs. This is the so called
Flowery pagoda meaning 'decorated' pagoda due to its
ornamented exterior. The pagoda is located inside a
temple called the Temple of the Six Banyan tress, or in
Chinese, Liu Rong. The name 'Liu Rong' came from
that during the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, a
celebrated poet, visited what was then called the
Baozhuangyan Temple, built in AD 537, and left the
two characters "liu rong" (six banyan trees) in his
calligraphy to the temple. After this the temple was
called the "Liu Rong Temple".
The octagonal, nine-storey, wood and brick pagoda
stands 57 meters high in the center of the temple,
making it a fairly high one among ancient pagodas in
south China. The original pagoda was a huge square
wooden structure but this burnt down in the tenth
century and was reconstructed in 1097 during the Song
dynasty, to its present form. Although it has been
rebuilt several times since then, the main body has been
retained. In 1980, when the pagoda was being repaired,
bricks inscribed with the names of periods of the
Northern Song Dynasty were found.
For each external storey there is one hidden storey
inside making the pagoda a structure of seventeen
storeys. There are staircases for climbing up and down.
The steeple is made of copper and iron. The steeple,
including the bead on its top and the iron chains
running from the top to other storeys of the pagoda,
weighs five thousand kilogrammes. The thousand-Buddha
copper mainstay on the top of the pagoda was cast in
1358 during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and bears
nine tiers of discs.
In front of the Flowery (decorated)
Pagoda inside the The Six Banyan Tree Temple
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson, July 2006
3. The (Smooth) Guang (Light) Minaret and
the Huaisheng Mosque
This might take a little bit of explanations but
basically in the middle of Guangzhou city suddenly
appears in front of your eyes a gray straight column
with no decorations at all. It is a cylindrical brick
structure 36.3 meters high featuring a central pillar
with inside a winding staircase leading up to the top.
Making your eyes follow this structure uowards you
notice a top and a railed balcony that you readily
recognizes as a lighthouse. Now this can not be of
course. One of the reasons being this is far up on land
and they don't even have this kind of lighthouses in
China. The explanations lies in the early trade
relations between China and the Arab world and the
construction you see in front of you is actually the
Huaisheng 'remember the sage' mosque, built in 627.
The Huaisheng Mosque is one of the oldest
mosques in China and dates to the 7th Century during the
Tang Dynasty (618-907), about when Islam was first
introduced to China. The Huaisheng Mosque features six
important buildings of which the Light Tower minaret is
one and the other the Imam Hall, the Wangyue Attic, the
Covered Corridor, the Storehouse of Islamic Scripture
and the Stone Steles Pavilion.
The Light Tower name seems to have come about when
the minaret actually got to be used to serve as a beacon
for boats on the Zhujiang (Pearl River). Although the
mosque presents a typical architectural style of the
Tang Dynasty, the Light Tower seems to develop a new
school of its own influenced by Arabic architecture.
After what I could understand this staircase was now
closed for the public.
The 'smooth pagoda'
4. Guangxiao, The Bright Filial Piety, Temple
To the top left on the dish we find a large
architectual structure. Local historians when asked were
immediately able to identify this as the Bright Filial
Piety Temple on Guangxiao Road. This is one of the
oldest Buddhist temples in Guangzhouand and also most
important religious and historical places in the area.
In the temple a few verses call this the birthplace of
Chinese Buddhism. The persons and relics that are kept
here are also quite important in Buddhist history.
Originally this was the residence of Prince Zhao
Jiande of the Nanyue Kingdom during the
Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C-A.D.24). Around 200 years
later, during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280
AD) Yufan, an aristocrat of the Yu family,
was exiled to Nanhai and is known to have delivered
lectures here which was then called the Yu Garden. It
was also the family of Yu who after the death of Yufan
who donated the buildings to become a Buddhist temple.
The Sixth Ancestor Hall in the temple was built in
memory of Huineng, the sixth master of the Zen
Sect of Buddhism, who was also the most influential monk
in the history of Chinese Buddhism.
In the temple there is also a pagoda where Huineng's
hair was buried. Other ancient structures in the temple
include Sakyamuni Hall, Samgharama Hall, the King of
Heaven Hall, and two iron towers.
The Bright Filial Temple, Guangxiao,
from the outside
The main entrance as it looks today
On either side of the main entrance
imposing brass figures guard the way
5. 'Yin Bin Hotel'
This building until further remain uncertain. During
the early republic days of Sun Yat-sen around 1920, when
Guangzhou also briefly was the capital of China, all
temples and religious buildings were nationalized. Many
were torn down and the land sold to finance reforms and
in practise the troops needed for the defence of the
young republic. Looking at the dish, this building is
located between the 'decorated pagoda' and the 'smooth
pagoda'. If that is the actual place, there were indeed
once a temple but on this site today is however only the
Yin Bin Hotel, flaunting a slightly outdated Moscow
style. The staff had no idea what had been on this
location before the Hotel. While strolling in the lush
garden this is filled of age old trees suggesting that
here might once stodd something else, but until further
- I don't know what.
6. The city wall
The old city wall was originally in two sections. The
inner city wall was encircling the old town but after
the river had been silting up, a second outer wall had
been build to protect also the new city now next to the
river. The wall was there both for defense purposes but
also to protect from flooding, of feng shui purposes and
to protect from bad sprits.
The only section of the city wall that still remains
today is located immediately next to the Five Story
Pagoda. In fact, the wall is visible next to the steep
road leading up to it. In the mid 1920 a visitor wrote
that the only remaining northern corner of the wall was
carried away 'brick by blue brick' for other purposes
and that the nearby rickety five story's tower was on
the brink of falling apart.
On my visit in 2006 the wall had been repaired and
from the looks of the wall much were original. Older
sections was visible as in layers closer to the base and
could well be several thousand years old as is in fact
the city.
The old city wall of Guangzhou has otherwise been an
item of pride, mentioned in every written account from
any visits to this city. The wall was torn down by Sun
Yat-sen during his rule of the city in the 1920s and the
space thus freed was turned into wide avenues. Several
more avenues totally out of proportion at that time,
were drawn across the city in an attempt to modernize
the city plan. Since Sun Yat-sen seems to have used his
army for the construction work no compensations seems to
have been left to all who lost their homes in that
process. The suffering in China before and after this
was and have been of such a massive scale that any
details about a small thing like this appears to have
been lost as of no particular significance.
The city wall still standing along
the road leading up to the 'Five Storey Pagoda' in the
northern most corner of the old City of Guangzhou.
Photo by Jan-Erik Nilsson, July 2006
Next to the tower a cannon gate, a
crenellation and bundles of glazed Shiwan tiles bearing
witness of the on-going renovations. Photo by Jan-Erik
Nilsson, July 2006
|
