“China’s Hidden Century” at London’s British Museum features 300 exhibits that are drawn from a tumultuous period that led to the end of the Qing Dynasty. At its peak, the dynasty ruled over one-third of the entire world’s population.
The exhibition spans an important period in which four thousand years of dynastic rule were brought to its end by civil unrest, the Opium wars, the Boxer Rebellion and the first Sino-Japanese war, paving the way for the fall of the Qing and the advent of the Republic. The exhibition is ordered by theme: court, military, art, popular culture and relations with the rest of the world.
A large Qing map of the known world greets you upon entering the exhibition. It shows country size by importance, you would need to look closely to find Europe—it appears as a mere speck in the bottom far right corner.
The exhibition tells the story of individuals and society at large from the elite to the extremely poor. The objects featured are wide and varied from paintings, manuscripts, ceramics, woodwork, cloisonne enamel, jade, lacquer, jewelry, arms, armor and garments.
Two turquoise glazed stoneware architectural remnants from the Summer Palace in Beijing appear in the exhibition. The famous palace was looted and destroyed on the orders of Lord Elgin in 1860. The palace was so large that it took 4000 men, just over three days to destroy it and carry away its treasures. Featured alongside these remnants is a portrait of a Pekingese dog brought back for Queen Victoria, aptly nicknamed “Looty”.
Celebrated in the exhibition is the life and legacy of Qiu Jin (1875-1907), a revolutionary, feminist and poet who was executed by beheading at the age of 31. However, it transpired that the translations of Qiu Jin by Vancouver-based translator, poet and editor Yilin Wang had been used in the exhibition without her knowledge and without attribution. The dispute which played out on social media resulted in the British Museum issuing a statement acknowledging that permissions and acknowledgements for Wang’s translations had indeed been omitted.
This is unfortunate for there is much to see in this exhibition as can be expected from a country as large and significant as China. The British Museum has brought together important objects from an era, based on four years of collaborative research with over 100 scholars from 14 countries. The exhibition is a must see and judging by the crowds will no doubt become a blockbuster show.