China: Jinchanggouliang, 1897-1898

Extent:

207 prints

Scope and content:

Jinchanggouliang (Chin Ch'ang Kou Liang, as spelled by Shockley), is a mountainous region in what is now known as Inner Mongolia, north and north-west of Beijing, noted for its quartz gold deposits and other minerals. Photographs in this large series depict local people, mine workers, women and children, Western men and women, and government officials, as well as village scenes, houses, spectators at an outdoor theater, monks and temples, and a market square. One sequence documents the induction of a Buddhist bishop; another shows Chinese soldiers asking grace from an official and posing for the camera.

Also depicted are landscape features such as the Great Wall, bridges, and rivers. The majority of the photographs, however, concern mining operations, with images of gold panning and washing, working steam mills, and smelting ore to extract gold, and worker housing. Many of the laborers are probably immigrants from Korea as well as other regions in China. Shockley appears in several photos: 243, 283, 292, and 349.

Processing information:

Titles have been transcribed as they appear in original captions on the backs of prints. Descriptive captions and Chinese translations of titles were supplied by library staff. Duplicate prints are indicated by an extension ".2" after the image identifier.

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