COLLECTION NAME:
Rylands Collection
Record
Image Number:
Bookreader_Chinese_Crawford_241
Reference Number:
Chinese Crawford 241
Parent Work Title:
Yiming yizi chenbing
Alternative Parent Work Title:
譯明夷字陳稟
Translated Parent Work Title:
Translation of a Barbarian’s Petition to the Court
Date Created:
1759
Description:
This is a Chinese-language petition of a European merchant, addressed to the Qing emperor (Qianlong), complaining about perceived corruption among Canton officials. The petition, which is signed with red sealing wax, is rather short but bound into a large book—as if one had expected more to follow. The title page has the Chinese title 譯明夷字陳稟 (Yiming yizi chenbing, ‘Translation of a Barbarian’s Petition to the Court’), plus a transliteration into Latin script, followed by a French-language text: ‘Cette Copie’ [this copy] was written by ‘le Seul Européen qui [peut] écrire la langue chinoise” [the only European who is able to write in Chinese]. The petition is dated 1759, only two years after the Qing dynasty had launched the so-called Canton System (1757-1842) as a means to control all trade with the newly emerging Western European powers through the port of Guangzhou (Canton).
Language Code:
chi
Language:
Chinese
Subject:
Trade routes--China
Category of Material:
Manuscripts
Sub-Category:
Codex
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Paper
Time Period Covered:
18th Century CE
Places Covered:
China
Item Height:
370 mm
Item Width:
240 mm
Current Repository:
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Provenance:
Lindsay family Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, former owner
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Rights holder - Work:
The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights:
References:
Zheng Yaying and John B. W. Deane, Handlist of the Chinese Collections in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester (1991), revised and expanded by Johannes S. Lotze
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2020-03-11
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2021-09
Educational Notes:
Qing: China's multilingual empire exhibition
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Academic Project Lead:
Julianne Simpson
Collection Code:
Rylands