In the book "Objects·Painting·Shadow: A Global History of Clothing Mirror", art historian Wu Hong tries to use the object "Clothing Mirror" to connect the three objects, paintings and images, trace the circulation of Clothing Mirror in the East and West, depict the imagination triggered by Clothing Mirror in the Chinese literary tradition, and explore the object gaze and subjective consciousness implicit in the Clothing Mirror photography mode.
The excerpts in this article focus on the popularity of the dressing mirror photography model in China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This popularity is the Chinese people's curiosity and acceptance of Western scientific and technological civilization, and it is also the West's record and gaze of traditional Chinese aesthetics. The women in front of the camera and in the dressing mirror gradually transformed from famous prostitutes in brothels and opera actors to ladies from nobles and nobles, which also reflects the evolution of the cultural connotation of photography technology.
"Playing·Painting·Shadow: A Global History of Clothing Mirror", Author: [US] Wu Hong, Version: Century Wenjing 丨 Shanghai People's Publishing House May 2021
The following content and pictures are authorized by the publisher, excerpted from the book "Playing·Painting·Shadow: A Global History of Clothing Mirror". The subtitle was added by the editor and has been deleted and modified from the original text.
-
The dressing mirror appeared in the "photographic textbook"
1863 In December, a young Scottish man named John Dudgeon (Chinese name Dezhen, 1837-1901) arrived in Shanghai with his newly married wife. The year before that, he graduated from the University of Glasgow Medical School and received his Master of Surgery. As a medical missionary sent to China by the British religious institution London Missionary Society, his central career is to develop modern medicine and medical education in China, and also introduce Chinese traditional medical culture to the West. But for Dezhen, the function of "missionary" is not limited to religion, but includes all kinds of knowledge. His introduction to photography is also motivated.
Dezhen.
Dezhen became very interested in photography technology that had just been invented at the age of seventeen or eighteen. He later recalled, "In my country, in the third and fourth years of Xianfeng, he first tried to take pictures and think it was a play." After studying medicine at university, he "understood the principles of chemistry, but because of photography and optics." He believed that although photography is better than painting in terms of reality, the size is unfortunately too small, so he invented the "method of large lamp and shadow mirror cover" in reference to the slide performance, which was published in the newspaper in 1855 after experiments. He was only eighteen years old that year.
After Dezhen arrived in China, she did not abandon her interest in photography. In addition to practicing medicine, she took many architectural and scenic photos. Among them, the most precious one is a set of records of the ruins of Qingyi Garden in the western suburbs (Today's Summer Palace ) - this royal garden that was burned by the British and French coalition forces is still devastated. And he regards photography technology as a way to connect with Chinese people. According to him, after the establishment of Kyoto Shibu Hospital, many people visited him and the doctors. After everyone knew that he could take photos, they asked him to take photos. Some of them wanted to learn about photography and asked him for advice:
Those who knew that I had a photography box did not ask me for the clumsiness of the technician, but asked me for the matter of photographing. As a result, friends from both Chinese and Western countries followed one after another, while those who were sick and confused were distracted. I responded all day long and felt uneasy. Because I thought about detachment (i.e. photography), I translated it into Chinese and compiled it into a book to reward my friends and a little relieved.
Dezhen, "The Qingyi Garden after the burning of the British and French forces." Black and white photos, late 19th century.
This is why he wrote and published the book "The Miracle of Depth" in Chinese while practicing medicine. This book was printed in Beijing with wooden board engraving in 1873. Although it was "translated from Chinese", it did not explain what book it translated from. One of the bigger things may be that he collected Western introductions to photography and compiled this book based on his own experience. The book is line-bound with four volumes, and the content is divided into three parts: Neo-Confucianism, Art, and Rules. The "History of Depth" at the beginning of the volume introduces the invention of photography in Europe. The book engraved the styles of various photography equipment that were popular in the West at that time, introduced the methods of taking and rinsing photos, and the "Mirror Shadow Lamp Theory" mentioned above is appended to the end of the volume.In the preface written by the Prime Minister, the then minister of the affairs of various countries, Wanyan Chonghou praised him for "recording the principles of optical chemistry and focusing on the methods of using medicine, understanding and understanding, and opening up the secret that has not been passed down for decades." The last sentence means that this is the first Chinese book to introduce the principles and methods of photography in detail, revealing the mystery of this Western magic to him and other Chinese readers.
Dezhen's cover of "Deshape of Miracle" was published in Beijing in 1873.
Photography equipment illustrations in Dezhen's "Descendo Miracle".
Dezhen's introduction to "dressing mirror mode" appears in the volume of the book about photography art. He wrote under the subtitle "The Method of Looking at the Mirror": "If you are illuminating the shadow, there is a large dressing mirror behind your back, and the figure is reflected, and both front and back are seen. There is also a shadow in the dressing mirror, covering the shadow in the mirror, and the shadow is reflected in the shadow box and the shadow is straight." According to the meaning of the text, what he introduced here is actually two methods of taking pictures of the mirror, but both use the "large dressing mirror". One is to use the dressing mirror to take pictures of the front and back sides of the person, and the other is to only take pictures in the mirror. The wonder of the latter is that the inverted image in the mirror is turned into a positive image in the viewfinder of the camera (i.e., the shadow box). The dressing mirror and the camera are therefore linked again, this time both of which can turn the image around.
Dezhen's "The Way to Look at the Mirror" in "The Miracle of Defiling".
Dezhen undoubtedly saw such dressing mirror photos before coming to China. We can't know if he put it into practice in China or if anyone among the readers of "The Descendo Miracle" has ever tried to make such photos. But this document clearly shows that the method of using dressing mirrors to take portraits was spread to China in the 1870s, and the transmission of technology and art reached the East with the spread of religion and science.
2
dressing mirrors popular in studios
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
This short advertisement is of great significance to us to understand the global spread of the dressing mirror photography model, because it reliably finalized the time when this model appeared and became popular in China. Before this, although Western photographers traveling to China like Dezhen knew about the existence of this photography method and introduced it to Chinese readers in words, they did not leave photos taken with dressing mirrors; and when commercial studios appeared in trading ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai since the 1850s, they did not introduce this portrait model for a long time. This is why when Yaohua Photo Studio published this advertisement in 1897, it described the portrait of the dressing mirror "before and after seeing people, left and right" as a "new method". Following this clue, we can find some typical works of this photo studio for analysis. But more importantly, since Yaohua Photo Studio is one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of commercial photography in Shanghai, it is extremely consciously striving for and consolidating its position as a fashion leader in the world. From these photos, we can think about the "new" in the sense that the dressing mirror portraits represent, and what broader impact it has on China's visual culture in the late 19th century to the early 20th century.
Among the hundreds of Shanghai photo studios in the late 19th century, Yaohua Photo Studio most consciously attracted customers with various "new methods" and also most clearly pursued the portrait style that combines Chinese and Western styles. This photo studio is located on the busiest road in Shanghai (that is, today's Nanjing Road ), and is diagonally opposite the door of the Hengdali watch row, which is used as a landmark in Shanghai. The historical photos in the picture were taken around 1895. It shows that the studio is located in a Western-style double-storey building. The windows on both sides of the door show products for attracting customers. The English sign above the door reads "Sze Yuen Ming Photographer". "Sze Yuen Ming" is the Cantonese pronunciation of , the founder of the photo studio, Shi Yuming (1861-1935), which is more often called Shi Dezhi. It is also the English name of Yaohua.Shi Dezhi is a mixed-race Chinese-English born in Hong Kong. His English name is Star Talbot. Although he was born in poverty - his father was an English sailor and his mother was a Fujian woman, when he went to Shanghai and married the granddaughter of Augustus J. White, the first manager of Citibank London Branch, he found economic back-end and social resources for himself. In 1891, he bought all the equipment of the H. Salzwedel Co., and then changed it to "Yaohua" - or "Sze Yuen Ming Photographer".
Yaohua Photo Studio on Nanjing Road, Shanghai at the end of the 19th century. Tong Bingxue hides.
In order to stand out in the fiercely competitive Shanghai commercial photography industry, Shi Dezhi adopted the most effective modern business strategy and published a large number of advertisements in newspapers and magazines. Before opening on January 30, 1893, he published advertisements almost every day in Shanghai's most influential newspaper " declaration ", which lasted for more than half a year. The first advertisement is titled "Please take a new photo", announcing that Yaohua "is not only different from the method of taking pictures, but also the latest and most effective machine" (Shen Bao, January 27, 1892). The advertisement published on July 13 of the same year was titled "China's top-notch photo shops are cheap and good," and gave a relatively comprehensive introduction to its business scope and business orientation: the cleanliness of
small places and the number of backgrounds is beyond the reach. All the photography amplification machinery and medicines are purchased from famous foreign manufacturers, which are not comparable. All sizes can be illuminated in hardware, wood, porcelain, ivory, and all silk cloths. All prices are from low prices, and can be enlarged to a length of 1 zhang and 4 feet wide. The oil phase, water phase, and pencil phase are all perfect. Since its opening, all Chinese and Western honorable people have been praised as beautiful trumpets. Therefore, it is easy to spare no effort and the price is extremely cheap, but the duration is long and not to make profits. Those who care about it must choose. The core concept of this advertisement can be summarized as Yaohua's modernity and internationality: it not only "nothing" in Shanghai photo studios in terms of cleaning and hygiene and equipment, but also purchased photography equipment and medicines from famous Western manufacturers, and its customers are both sourced by Chinese and foreigners. Along this direction, Shi Dezhi emphasized the connection between Yaohua and China and the West through various channels: Prince Zaizhen, who went to the UK to attend the coronation ceremony of Edward VII, was invited to take photos here before leaving; the "Imperial Little Portrait" of Empress Dowager Cixi is sold here; the first World Expo held in Paris awarded it a certificate - these have become social resources of this photo studio built by a "famous German optical teacher". At the same time, Shi Dezhi has continuously launched various new photography methods in advertisements, including "desirable" snapshots, "which are also rare for newcomers in Taixi sailing", makeup photos of "ancient costumes, Taixi, Japanese, Man and Han men and women's clothes", and even "newly arrived lions, tigers, leopards, big deer, ocean dogs and other beasts to help with photography." A dressing mirror photo called "all image" is one of these new methods.
3
Full-body photos of women under the dressing mirror
This "full portrait" is mainly women. It is known that the dressing mirror photos taken before 1912 are all female portraits, while the set of men's dressing mirror portraits that appeared in 1912 were due to the special political environment at that time. This female customer group should include Shanghai's famous socialites and wealthy ladies. In order to attract such customers, Shi Dezhi also opened the Yaohua West hosted by his eldest daughter in 1905, "specially taking female photos to facilitate the boudoir." However, currently, photos of ladies wearing mirrors that can determine their identities are quite rare. One reason may be that such private photos have not been retained, and the other reason is that commercial studios in Shanghai have repeatedly "sovereignedly promised" to unofficially issue private photos of women. On the day of its opening, Rubaoji Photo Studio announced that "the videos of the boudoir will never be retailed." Yaohua Photo Studio also claimed in the advertisement that "if there are ladies who are inconvenient to go out to take photos, you can invite them to the house and return them under the glass" (Shenbao, September 20, 1894).
But the Yaohua Photo Studio uses photos of famous prostitutes known as "Sea Flower" as commercial images, either enlarged as advertisements, or reprinted as postcards , and circulated in public places without any obstacles, and even posted "half-price" posters to attract brothel women to take photos.Famous prostitutes also use photos as tools for self-promotion, "Almost everyone takes photos of beautiful and beautiful photos. Whether it is narcissism or showing mercy to guests, they are all the best and most beautiful and trendy things." Commercial studios and brothel culture hit it off and used each other. In concession tourists, merchants and soldiers like Shanghai, they mailed the "Mysterious Oriental" they saw back to their country to share with their families in this simplest way; the image of a prostitute circulating all over the world through this channel has become a microcosm of "Chinese women".
This is why in the late 19th and early 20th century Chinese portrait photos that used dressing mirrors - mostly found abroad - a large number of fashion beauty postcards produced by Yaohua. One of them was sent to France from Hankou on January 21, 1903. The writer told his family that he would send three postcards in a row, with various images showing the Chinese human landform (Figure 3.44). The street view of Tianjin’s old city is printed on the right side of the postcard. On the left is a woman standing in front of the dressing mirror. She wore layers of gold bracelets and on her wrist, and three inches of golden lotus exposed under the legs of the embroidered trousers. At that time, all Chinese people were able to buy and use photos and postcards of such "fashion beauties" were mostly identified by foreign travels, but the sender called her a "femmes Chinoises" in a broad sense.
Beauty in front of the mirror and city scenery postcard produced by Yaohua. Early 20th century. Virgina Thiriez hides.
The dressing mirror behind this prostitute should have been imported directly from Europe by Shi Dezhi. We saw this mirror again on another postcard of a fashion beauty produced by Yaohua. The backgrounds of the two photos are the same, both of which are European interior scenes drawn in the studio: on the left is a tall carved wall cabinet , and the open door on the right leads to the inner room with a hanging mirror. But the relationship between the character and the dressing mirror is reversed in these two photos: the woman in the first photo faces the audience with the painting, and the dressing mirror reflects the gorgeous ornaments on her head; the woman in the second photo sits in front of the mirror, and the viewer first sees her full jewelry, and then the face reflected in the mirror. Both postcards have the words "Sze Yuen Ming" printed on them, and they are also purchased and used by foreigners. The latter was sent from Shanghai to Alby, France on July 14, 1902.
Postcard of the beauty in front of the dressing mirror produced by Yaohua. In the early 20th century, Virgina Tirisch.
Yaohua sometimes sells products to other studios or photographers. For example, another postcard with photos of a fashion beauty is marked as produced by René Tillot, a French photographer who specializes in producing postcards in China. But this photo was undoubtedly taken by Yaohua. We can compare it with a photo with the word "Shanghai Yaohua": not only are the same photography styles, but the woman also has the same carpet under her feet, and the same dressing mirror with a special structure is also used. This dressing mirror is probably made specifically by Yaohua for the "full image": it is much larger than the average dressing mirror, and is designed as a unique four-frame mirror screen, two with perforated panes on the side, and two in the middle with mirrors that are taller than people. When the photographer stands or sits in front of the screen, two sides will be reflected in the mirror, resulting in the effect of "on the shadow becomes three people".
Postcard of the beauty in front of the dressing mirror produced by Yaohua. In the early 20th century, Virgina Tirisch.
Postcard of the beauty in front of the dressing mirror produced by Yaohua. In the early 20th century, Tong ice and snow were hidden.
This mirror is definitely very popular in the Shanghai prostitute circle - at least five famous Shanghai prostitutes in "The Sea Shocking Shadow" published in 1913 were taken in front of this mirror screen. Moreover, since the photos taken with this special dressing mirror not only show the two angles in front and back, they are more in line with Yaohua's new method of "can see people before, behind, left and right" promoted by the Newspaper on May 26, 1897. It is very likely that this advertisement refers to this special dressing mirror photo. There are two other points worth noting. One is that the photos in the picture are elegant in color, and the name of the studio with the red letters of the golden land under the photo is very magnificent.According to Yaohua's advertisement, this photo studio specially hired Zhu Yushan, a famous painter who has been living in the United States for many years, to color the photos. After Zhu left, he invited a painter who returned from Vienna to help. The coloring of this photo may be from one of the two. Another noteworthy detail is that the woman's feet in this and other "sea flowers" photos are often painted with a brush to emphasize the slenderness of the "three-inch golden lotus".
4
What cultural connotations do the portrait of the dressing mirror have?
A question worth thinking about emerges here: If for foreigners who buy such photos, the beauty in front of the mirror is full of oriental style, and the image in the mirror further strengthens her exotic color, then for Chinese people at that time, what would this kind of fashion beauty image and other types of dressing mirror portraits produced by the photo studio contain?
should have many meanings, which are revealed by the dress, setting and furnishings of the characters in the photos, as well as the literary writing at that time. The first meaning is the imagination of the West, most clearly externalized into European-style halls and furniture in the background of the photo, and the dressing mirror is an integral part of this environment. The meaning of glass dressing mirrors as a symbol of "Western" can be said to be a long history. This has been the case since the early years of the Qing Dynasty and has been further determined in popular culture in the 19th century. For example, on May 18, 1872, a song "The Song of the North Bamboo Branch" was published, singing: "The room is hung with a large gold mirror, which shows the return of Tanlang every day. There is also a Western rattan sleeping chair, which is enough to enjoy the pleasure of Wushan." This type of bamboo branch mainly describes the scene of a brothel, so it has an intrinsic connection with the photos of "beauty in front of the mirror" discussed above. Interestingly, the word "gold-inlaid glass" and "Western rattan sleeping chair" are symmetrical, both of which are symbols of fashion and luxury. In addition, the clothing mirror advertisements and sales revelations published in newspapers often emphasize that they are "specially selected by foreign countries" and "are of great value", and always associate such objects with the West.
The same cultural connection and symbolic significance are also found in literary works written during this period. For example, "The Mirror Flower Back" serialized in Guangzhou's "Sing Chew Morning News" describes the various experiences of Yan Zixiao and Cui Jinying leaving their seclusion and traveling in the world. The tenth chapter talks about the two meeting Cheng Xiaochun, a concubine of Fuzhou official Xu Jiu, and being introduced to her private room to visit. What they saw there was a completely Westernized lifestyle: they were sleeping in imported "slingshot beds" and drinking amber foreign wine. What Xiaochun was most proud of was an original British dressing mirror:
Xiaochun pulled the curtain away, and on his head was a big dressing mirror, and the three of them all reflected in the mirror. At that time, Zi Xiao was still very experienced, so she praised, "What a mirror! What is it from which province?" Xiaochun smiled and said, "Why are there no girls? Not to mention that this mirror is not available in China, and Asia is not made like this! This is something from Great Britain. They specially sent it back from abroad. I heard that it cost more than 500 yuan of silver."
In addition to the portraits of prostitutes' dressing mirrors, there were two other types of dressing mirror photos in the late 19th and early 20th century photo studios, one was the flagship portrait of Manchu women, and the other was the makeup portrait of drama actors, who often dressed in flag dressing clothes. The Getty Institute in the United States collected a photo album made around 1900, including a portrait of a dressing mirror of a Manchu woman, indicating that such photos appeared no later than this time. Judging from the expression and circulation of images, this kind of photo should originate from the interest of Western photographers in headwear for Manchu women. This headdress is called " flag head " - Manchu women wear a flat head crown supported by a wire frame and covered with blue satin fabric on their hair. The front is decorated with jewelry and tassels hung on the side. Although this headdress was common to the Chinese at that time, Western photographers who came to China often recorded it as an interesting exotic custom. The famous photographer John Thompson (1837-1921) also took photos of both sides to express the complete structure of the "flag head".
anonymous photographer, "Portrait of Manchu women dressed in mirror". At the end of the 19th century, the Getty Institute was collected.
(a,b) John Tomson, "The Headdress of Manchu Women". Second half of the 19th century.Photos like
are usually not created as "portraits" because the photographer's main subject is not the characters in the photo but the costumes of the characters. When the dressing mirror photography model became popular after the late 19th century, photographers quickly discovered that this model allowed them to place the "flag heads" on both sides on the same photo, which could more effectively meet the needs of foreign tourists (Figure 3.50). Therefore, although these images originated from the documentary photography tradition of Tomson et al., by around 1900, the early anthropological interests had been replaced by tourists' curiosity. As evidence, like the photos of prostitutes dressing mirrors sold on the market, the photos of Manchu women dressing mirrors do not indicate the names of the mirrors, but simply call them generally "Tartar lady" or "Manchu women".
anonymous photographer, "Portrait of Manchu women dressing in mirrors". Around 1900.
5
embraces the trend of dressing mirrors
But nothing is simple and pure, especially in the late Qing Dynasty of semi-feudal and semi-colonial dynasty. Just when this type of Manchu women's images were circulating internationally as tourism products, real Manchu women also discovered and embraced photography, imitating the example of Empress Dowager Cixi , appearing more and more in front of cameras, and even frequently entering and leaving commercial studios. Some studios have also noticed this trend and began to develop customers among Manchu nobles, officials and their families. Fengtai Photo Studio, located in the capital, is one of the most famous and successful of this type of studio.
Fengtai is often said to be "the first photo studio founded by Chinese in Beijing". Its founder Ren Qingtai (1850-1932) is sometimes described as a prominent family born in Faku County, Liaoning. His ancestors even had a relationship with the Qing Taizu Nurhachi. Tong Bingxue, a researcher in photography history, searched for such statements and found that most of them were unfounded. But the important point here is: this kind of rumor must have brought great benefits to Ren Qingtai's career, especially because one of his important business strategies was to develop their relationship with the nobles of the Qing Dynasty. It is recorded that he had personal relationships with nobles such as Prince Su Shanqi , Prince Qing Yi Li, and the latter went to Fengtai Photo Studio to take pictures more than once, and brought the washed photos into the palace for Empress Dowager Cixi to view, which attracted Empress Dowager Cixi's attention to this photo studio and summoned Ren Qingtai to the palace to take pictures for her several times. It is said that Ren Qingtai carefully ponders and produces every time he takes pictures of Empress Dowager Cixi. The photos he took are very consistent with the taste of , the Lafayette , and he was also given the fourth-grade virtual title with a flower feather. Since then, the business of Fengtai Photo Studio has become more prosperous, and Ren Qingtai has also become a well-known figure in the industry.
Ren Qingtai, who wore , the official server of Qing Dynasty, .
It is in this context that we obtain the only photo of a Manchu woman dressing in mirror with a solid identity. This photo is posted on a cardboard with the name "Fengtai Photo Studio of Liulichang outside the Qianmenmen of Kyoto", and the bilingual seal of Fengtai Photo Studio is covered with the back. The woman in the photo is Hesheli (born in 1867), the concubine of Prince Su Shanqi. She was wearing a formal court robes and stood in front of a dressing mirror. The white curtain behind the mirror creates the closed feeling of the studio, but based on the bungalow window reflected in the mirror, we know that the photos were taken outdoors, probably in the yard in Suwangfu . The photo has a clear source: it was presented by Hersheri herself to Sarah Conger, the wife of Edwin Conger, the first ambassador to China, who not only marked the identity of the Lord and her husband and the location of the photo, but also wrote: "She was dressed in her dress to the Queen Mother and the Emperor." According to the definition of art historian Richard Brilliant, we have thus obtained the first Chinese dressing mirror photo that can be called a "portrait" - it carries the name of the subject.
Fengtai Photo Studio, "Picture of Prince Su Shanqi's Zhengfu Jin Hesheli".At the beginning of the 20th century, the Boston Art Museum collection.
"Photo of Prince Su Shanqi's Zhengfu Jin Hesheli". The definition of
can also be used to define another set of dressing mirror photos in the early 20th century - they all represent famous drama actors, which had become a global phenomenon at that time - a famous Hollywood porn star Mary Pickford took in 1920. A famous image of a flying pose in front of the dressing mirror, like a fairy about to fly into the fantasy world in which a fairy is about to fly into the mirror. But in this trend, Chinese star photos in front of the mirror still have their own characteristics. As shown in the picture, the famous female actors in front of the dressing mirror in the photo are both dressed as sympathetic princesses of the Liao Kingdom in "Silang Tanmu". On the stage of Peking Opera , this princess always dressed as a Manchu woman with a typical "flag head" on her head. These photos of the dressing mirrors taken in the early Republic of China have dual meanings, reflecting the dramatic roles of famous actresses wearing makeup, and expressing a sense of nostalgia for the last dynasty.
Mary Bickford in front of the dressing mirror. Black and White Photography, 1920 by Afred Cheney Jonston.
Mei Lanfang dresses up like this. Black and white photography. Published in Wang Langao, "Mei Lu Collection", Shanghai China Industrial Cong Newspaper, 1914.
Wang Yaoqing dressed up as a face. Black and white photography. In edited by Xu Muyun, "Liyuan Shadows", published by Shanghai Donghua Company, 1922.
Original author丨[US] Wu Hong
excerpt丨Xiao Shuyan
edit丨Zhang Ting
introduction part proofreading丨Wei Zhuo
3
