Shop Signs of Peking [Beijing]

This material is held atSchool of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Archives, University of London

  • Reference
    • GB 102 CWML MSS/501
  • Former Reference
    • GB 102 CWML O9/3
  • Dates of Creation
    • n.d.
  • Language of Material
    • Chinese English
  • Physical Description
    • 1 vol

Scope and Content

Hand-painted watercolour illustrations of Chinese shop signs of Peking [Beijing], on Chinese paper. Painted by Zhou Peichun, Peking (fl 1887-1914), whose name seal appears in Chinese characters on each page. Contains 99 shop signs, each made up of pictures or symbols of the items on sale. Includes key to illustrations in English.

Administrative / Biographical History

William Francis Dawson (1877-1951) served as a missionary with the London Missionary Society in North China, 1903-1939. He married Stella Selina Bevan in 1905.

Access Information

Open

Custodial History

Note inside volume indicates that it was presented by Rev William Francis Dawson & Mrs Stella Selina Dawson of Siaochang, North China, to Mr Symmons, "In memory of happy days spent at 'Belle Vue'". Some time after this it came into the possession of the London Missionary Society and was incorporated into their reference library.

Related Material

SOAS Special Collections also holds a printed, hand-coloured edition of this work, which was published in 1931 as part of a limited edition of one hundred copies by the Chinese Painting Association of Peking [reference: MS 131981]. The title of the published version is 'Yandu Shangpang tu' [Shop Signs of Peking], with a preface by Feng Qianli of Nanhai District. This edition depicts 101 shop signs, with some variation from the manuscript version. The British Library also holds a copy of the manuscript version of this work.