Unidentified artist, Portrait of Lu Xifu. China, about 1876. Gift of Mr. Harp Ming Luk. Courtesy of ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), Toronto, Canada. © ROM.
Between 1796 and 1912 Qing China endured numerous civil uprisings and foreign wars, with revolution ultimately bringing an end to some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and giving way to a modern republic. But this period of violence and turmoil was also one of extraordinary creativity, driven by political, cultural and technological change.
Lead exhibition curator Jessica Harrison-Hall will reveal life in 19th-century China through its art, fashion, newspapers, furniture – even soup ingredients! New art forms, such as photography and lithographic printing flourished; while technology and transport – the telegraph, electricity, railways – transformed society.
This extraordinary exhibition opens a new page in public understanding of late imperial China.
China’s Hidden Century is at the British Museum from 18 May to 8 October 2023.
Proceeds from our ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live, or on-demand for three weeks afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.