A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking’s Foreign Colony
Posted: May 3rd, 2012 | No Comments »Obviously this book , A Dance with the Dragon – is of interest to me and I must admit to having had a series of chats with the author Julia Boyd over the years. I do hope the book is successful as it’s obviously a subject that fascinates me – nice job on the cover I reckon…
Based on a treasure-trove of original sources, this book gives an enthralling insight into the expatriate community in Peking during the half-century before the triumph of Mao. Anyone who wants to understand China’s relationship with foreigners, today as well as yesterday, should read it. –Piers Brendon, author of The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
A fascinating account sourced from many previously unpublished letters and archives. Boyd’s characters flit on the surface of the city like water beetles, unaware of the depths below. –Frances Wood, Curator of Chinese Collections, British Library, author of China’s First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors.
With its wild, dissolute, extravagant group of fossil hunters and philosophers, diplomats, dropouts, writers and explorers, missionaries, artists and refugees, Peking s foreign community in the early 20th century was as exotic as the city itself. Always a magnet for larger than life individuals, Peking attracted characters as diverse as Reginald Johnston (tutor to the last emperor), Bertrand Russell, Pierre Loti, Rabrindranath Tagore, Sven Hedin, Peter Fleming, Wallis Simpson and Cecil Lewis. The last great capital to remain untouched by the modern world, Peking both entranced and horrified its foreign residents – the majority of whom lived cocooned inside the legation quarter, their own walled enclave, living an extraordinary high-octane party lifestyle, suffused with martinis, jazz piano and cigarettes, at the height of the Jazz Age. Ignoring the poverty outside their gates, they danced, played and squabbled among themselves, oblivious to the great political events unfolding around them and the storm clouds looming on the horizon that were to shape modern China. Others, more sensitive to Peking s cultural riches, discovered their paradise too late when it already stood on the brink of destruction. Although few in number, Peking’s expatriates were uniquely placed to chart the political upheavals – from Boxer Rebellion in 1900 to the Communist victory of 1949 that shaped modern China. Through extensive use of unpublished diaries and letters, Julia Boyd reveals the foreigner’s perceptions and reactions – their take on everyday life and the unforgettable events that occurred around them. This is a dazzling portrait of an eclectic foreign community and of China itself – a magnificent confection, never before told.
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