Details

Object type

The Peking Magazine (Issue No. 32) 中西聞見錄 第三十二號

Culture/School

Chinese

Place Associated

Asia, China, Beijing (place of manufacture)

Date

April 1875

Materials

ink on paper, woodblock prints

Dimensions

overall: 262 mm x 155 mm x 5 mm 51.5 g

Description

Known as The Peking Magazine, this was the first periodical devoted to “useful knowledge” and practical science in China. It was launched in August 1872 by three Protestant missionaries William A. P. Martin (1827 – 1916), Joseph Edkins (1823 – 1905) and John Shaw Burdon (1826 – 1907). The magazine ran for 36 issues with illustrations, terminating in August 1875. Writers were missionaries, Western diplomats, Chinese scholars, and students from Tongwenguan (“Interpreters’ College”). Around 1000 copies were produced per month and circulated among the Chinese government officials.

This Issue, No. 32 was gifted by medical missionary and amateur photographer John Dudgeon (1837-1901). John Dudgeon was born in the town of Galston in Ayrshire, Scotland on 7 April 1837. He attended the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow, in the latter graduating as an M.D. and Master of Surgery in 1862. Aged 26, he joined the London Missionary Society and arrived in Beijing in 1864, succeeding Dr William Lockhart (1811 – 1896). He served as a physician to the British Legation from 1864 to 1868. In 1865, due to insufficient space, he acquired a Buddhist temple located at Hatamen Street (now Chongwenmen Street) and expanded the Charity Hospital at this new venue. As a fluent Mandarin speaker and known resident in Beijing, Dr Dudgeon was able to get access to Chinese people of all social strata. He remained in China until his death in February 1901. Glasgow Museums has a collection of Chinese materials donated by John Dudgeon. These are fascinating in terms of the personal history behind each piece, and how the objects came to be gifted to the UK.

Written by Dr Yupin Chung, Curator of Chinese and Far Eastern Civilisations, Glasgow Museums

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Dr John Dudgeon

ID Number

1877.141.aw

Location

In storage