Lion and Dragon in Northern China

A detailed examination of Chinese culture by Sir Reginald Johnston, tutor to the last emperor of China, published in 1910.

Reginald F. Johnston (Author)

9781108029643, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 June 2011

560 pages, 60 b/w illus. 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 3.2 cm, 0.7 kg

Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston (1874–1938) was a colonial administrator and scholar with a lifelong fascination with China who was appointed tutor to the young Puyi (1906–1967), who became emperor at the age of two. Johnston was highly favoured by the emperor, receiving several imperial titles and residing in the Forbidden City. His account of his time as Puyi's tutor, Twilight in the Forbidden City, also reissued in this series, was dramatised in the film The Last Emperor. Previously, Johnston had served in a variety of colonial service positions, including three years as commissioner of the British-held territory of Weihaiwai. This book, first published in 1910, is Johnston's examination of Weihaiwei, which he considered to be a microcosm of Chinese life. Writing with obvious affection, Johnston outlines the history, culture, festivals and local folklore of Weihaiwei and explores what the future could hold for the city.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Weihaiwei and the Shantung promontory
3. History and legend
4. Chinese chronicles and local celebrities
5. British rule
6. Litigation
7. Village life and land tenure
8. Village customs, festivals and folk-lore
9. The women of Weihaiwei
10. Widows and children
11. Family graveyards
12. Dead men and ghost-lore
13. Confucianism I
14. Confucianism II
15. Taoism, local deities, tree-worship
16. The dragon, mountain-worship, Buddhism
17. Religion and superstition in east and west
18. The future
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]