The Celestial Empire

How colonialism profoundly influenced the emergence of Chinese science fiction Challenging assumptions about science fiction's Western origins, Nathaniel Isaacson traces the development of the genre in China, from the late Qing Dynasty through the New Culture Movement. Through careful examination of a wide range of visual and print media—including historical accounts of the institutionalization of science, pictorial representations of technological innovations, and a number of novels and short stories—Isaacson makes a case for understanding Chinese science fiction as a product of colonial modernity. By situating the genre's emergence in the transnational traffic of ideas and material culture engendered by the presence of colonial powers in China's economic and political centers, Celestial Empires explores the relationship between science fiction and Orientalist discourse. In doing so it offers an innovative approach to the study of both vernacular writing in twentieth-century China and science fiction in a global context.

Celestial Empire shows the wealth and cultural richness of the Qing dynasty, which ruled China for nearly three centuries, as seen through rare materials from the National Library of China and the National Library of Australia. The book is illustrated with stunning images, from woodblock printed books to colourful maps, making accessible a wealth of culture from China’s last imperial dynasty. Many works that appear in the book have never been seen outside China before, or presented in English. Examples include painted scrolls of scenic and sacred sites, maps detailing a variety of landscapes, woodblock illustrations demonstrating extraordinary skill and artistic vision and delightful folk art used on festive occasions. The book also includes architectural drawings produced for the Imperial court of iconic locations such as the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. A visually beautiful book that gives insight into the dynasty that laid the foundations of modern China.

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe-- the process that is loosely termed the "opening of China." Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Peter Ward Fay's study was the first to treat extensively the opium trade from the point of production in India to the point of consumption in China and the first to give both Protestant and Catholic missionaries their due; it remains the most comprehensive account of the first Opium War through western eyes. In a new preface, Fay reflects on the relationship between the events described in the book and Hong Kong's more recent history.