Julia Boyd - A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Pekings Foreign Colony

Julia Boyd is the author of Hannah Riddell, An Englishwoman in Japan and The Excellent Doctor Blackwell. She has travelled frequently to China.

Julia Boyd tells the fascinating tale of the foreign community surviving in Peking between the end of the Ching Dynasty and Maos communist revolution. It is a great story very well told turmoil behind, turmoil ahead and turmoil all around.

Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University,
Chairman of the BBC and former Governor of Hong Kong,
author of East and West: The Last Governor of Hong Kong on Power Freedom and the Future

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 Chinas 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A fascinating account sourced from many previously unpublished letters and archives. Boyds 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 Chinas First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors

Published in 2012 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd

6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU

175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010

www.ibtauris.com

Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan

175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010

Copyright 2012 Julia Boyd

The right of Julia Boyd to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978 1 78076 052 0

eISBN: 978 0 85773 184 5

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

For John

LIST OF PLATES

PHOTOS

(Published in China of Today: The Yellow Peril, London: Army & Navy Illustrated, 1900)

(Reproduced from Ein Tagebuch in Bildern, Courtesy of Toyo Bunko, Tokyo)

(Courtesy of Library of Congress)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Reproduced from Ein Tagebuch in Bildern, Courtesy of Toyo Bunko, Tokyo)

(Copyright and Courtesy of Queens University, Belfast, Sir Robert Hart Collection, MS 15)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Sir Ian Axford Collection, Courtesy of Robert Axford)

(Sir Ian Axford Collection, Courtesy of Robert Axford)

(Mary Evans Picture Library)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Ellis album, Hoover Institution Archives)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Ellis album, Hoover Institution Archives)

(Fondation Teilhard de Chardin, Paris)

(Courtesy of The Hon. Lady Bonsor)

(Courtesy of Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge)

(Courtesy of Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge)

(Ellis album, Hoover Institution Archives)

MAPS

(Guide to Peking 1931, published by The Leader)

(Cooks Guide to Peking, 1924)

(Reproduced from In Search of Old Peking)

(Reproduced from In Search of Old Peking)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have contributed to this book and I am deeply grateful to them all. Without the encouragement and input of Gordon Barrass and Dr Jim Hoare, I would never have started, let alone finished. I owe an immense debt to Dr Piers Brendon and Dr Frances Wood, whose constant support and interest have been vital to me. All four have been unfailingly helpful in directing me towards promising sources, suggesting improvements and contributing ideas. Any errors that have crept in are of course mine alone. Graham Greene has, as always, been extraordinarily generous with his time and advice.

Much of the material I have used comes from unpublished sources and private collections. I was particularly lucky to meet Daniele Vars daughter, Gianmarina Grose, with whom I spent many happy hours transcribing her fathers diaries. Lady Bonsor showed equal generosity in lending me copies of Lord Killearns diaries one of the most vivid records of the period. I thank her too for allowing me to reproduce photographs from her grandfathers albums. General Stilwells grandson, Colonel John Easterbrook, and his wife Hanh welcomed me to their home in California and made available many fascinating family documents. Alexandra Blair generously loaned me Sir Malcolm Robertsons diary. The following individuals have shown great kindness in allowing me access to private papers: Virginia Fraser, Paul French, Ambassador Yasuhide Hayashi, the Horvath family, Adam Jordan, Kate Ker, The Viscount and Viscountess Killearn, Thomas Pinschof, Anton von Rosthorn, Benita Stoney, Sir Adrian Swire, John Travers Clarke, Sir George and Lady Young, Richard Warren, Helen Winnifrith, Peggy Wiles and Emmeline Wray.

I owe special thanks to my long-suffering American friends Louis Bradbury and Dr Nancy Sahli, who undertook research for me in New York and Washington. Also to Barbara Laughlin and Patrick Miles, for their translations of Russian text, and to Ambassador Nishigahiro, who, despite his demanding job as Minister at the Japanese Embassy, found time to translate Hayashi Gonsukes autobiography for me. Robert Massam gave me invaluable assistance with the photographs.

Phoebe Bentinck, Ambassador Roland van den Berg, The Lady Biffen, Stephen Boyd, Sir Tony Brenton, Jennifer Chang, Jung Chang, Professor Paul Chen, Richard Davies, Paula Diamanti, John Gerson, Patricia Haines, Dr Gaynor Johnson, Ambassador Klaus Kappel, George Loudon, Professor Roderick MacFarquar, Professor David McMullen, Sally McMullen, John Moffett, Jon Halliday, Nicholas Maclean, the late Sir Robin MacLaren, Margaret Mair, Professor Allan Mazur, Dr Susan Pares, Lord Patten of Barnes, Tom Phillips, Desmond Power, Marian Ramsay, Dr Zara Steiner, Virginia Surtees, Dr Madhavi Thampi, Josephine Walker, Lady Weston, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, Dalena Wright, Lady Youde and Dr Yuan Boping have helped in countless ways I thank them all.

I have also been very fortunate to have received help from individuals working in the libraries and archives I have consulted while researching this book. Dr Richard Luckett kindly gave me access to Dorothea Richards diary in the Old Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge, while the following staff went well beyond the line of duty in providing me with information, suggestions and photocopies: Julia Banks, Judy Burg, Sarah Campbell, Lorraine Coughlan, Bert Edstrom, John Entwisle, Patrice S. Fox, Carol A. Leadenham, Allen Packwood and his staff at the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, and Dale Sauter, Carrie Lyn Schwier, Paul Smith, Anne Thomson, Debbie Usher and Reina Williams. Holly Wright was particularly helpful in providing me with photocopies of the Laurence Sickman material.