Harold in China, 1932-1939: Photographs from the Acton Collection

Section I - Harold Acton’s Home: 2, Kung Hsien Hutong

After living in a succession of temporary residences in Peking, in May 1936 Harold Acton purchased a Chinese mansion in a Hutong (alley) in the previous royal district, with the address 2, Kung Hsien Hutong (now called Gongjian Hutong), where he lived until he left China in 1939. The mansion had three successive courtyards. It was built during the Qing dynasty.

The Gongjian Hutong（恭俭胡同) was initially built during the Ming Dynasty as the office area for the court eunuchs. In the Qing dynasty this area consisted of five Hutong (alley). After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, this Hutong was the place where most of the intellectuals, aristocrats and prominent figures in Peking society gathered. The prominent artist Qi Baishi, Prince P’u Ju, the cousin of the last Chinese Emperor and a friend of Harold Acton lived here too, as well as many famous Peking Opera actors.

A Si He Yuan (四合院) Mansion is characterized by its successive courtyards:

1. Entrance Gate: The decoration of the gate usually reflected the social status of the owner of the residence.
2. North-facing Room: Right next to the gate of the mansion this was the only room which faced north. It was usually used as an exterior living room, and also as an office, porter’s room, guestroom, and the servants’ quarter.
3. Screen Wall: In a traditional Chinese mansion this prevented a direct view of the interior from outside.
4. Drooping Flowers Gate: In the Chinese tradition, this was the only entrance gate to the main courtyard, it had decorative columns sculpted in the shape of flowers hanging from above instead of growing from the ground upwards, hence the name “Drooping flowers gate”.
5. Short-cut Corridor: This corridor connected the “Drooping Flowers Gate”, the “Wing Rooms” and the principal room, for convenience on rainy and snowy days.
6. East and West Wing Rooms: The two rooms situated on the east and west side of the main courtyard.
7. Principal Room: The central building of the mansion which always faced South.
8. Side Rooms: On both sides of the principal room, which was larger and longer.
9. Long Room at the Back: Behind the Principal Room and Side Rooms facing South. It had one floor or at the most two floors. There was a courtyard behind. Usually the wives or elders of the owner of the mansion resided here.

Section II - Harold Acton’s Life in Peking

The 1930s is generally considered a ‘Golden Age’ in Chinese modern history. It was a period of rapid modernization, social and political change and educational reform. Hu Shi, philosopher, essayist and diplomat, was an advocate of Chinese liberalism and promoted language reform, and written vernacular Chinese. In 1929 he proposed “Wholesale Westernization”, an idea that was hotly debated in universities throughout the 1930s. The New Culture Movement promoted cultural and educational exchange between the West and China.

It was within this historical context that Harold Acton was invited by Wen Yuanning, the director of the School of Foreign Languages in Peking University (PKU), to teach English Literature. PKU is the oldest university in China. Harold Acton recounts his early time teaching in PKU: “I was to lecture in a grim barrack-like structure of butcher-red brick ‘Western style’ erected in 1910 […]. Further west the original university, still referred to as Ma Shen Miao, or Temple of the god of Horses which had preceded it, had been converted in to dormitories and a large auditorium. It was not five minutes’ walk from my house, but my servants urged me to go there by rickshaw to create a ‘respectable
impression’, since no Chinese would walk who could avoid it.” (Memoirs of an Aesthete, 1948, p.331).

During Harold Acton’s time in PKU, he got to know Chen Shi-Hsiang (in Pinyin “Chen Shixiang” 陈世骧). Chen was Acton’s student who graduated from PKU in 1932 and became a teacher there. Later he went to the US and from 1945 taught at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1936, Harold Acton and Chen Shixiang, published Modern Chinese Poetry, translations of the work of famous literary figures of the time.  This was the first English edition of Chinese modern poetry. The book has an introduction by Harold Acton.

Other literary acquaintances at this time were: Fei Ming (废名) and He Qifang (何其芳), both of whom were protagonists of the “New Poetry” movement.

Section III - The Peking Opera

Harold Acton was an admirer of the Peking Opera and befriended some of its actors. He invited the company of Han Shih-Ch’ang (in Pinyin: Han Shichang 韩世昌) to his house. Many photos were taken of the actors in their different roles in the porch of Acton’s house in Peking between 1936 and 1939. The Acton Collection preserves an extensive group of photographs of actors from the Peking Opera, as well as theatre performances. Harold Acton contributed the article on The Peking Opera to The Oxford Companion to the Theatre (ed. Phyllis Hartnell, Oxford University Press, 1951)

Section IV: Architecture and Places in Peking visited by Harold Acton

“Kindness and courtesy was everywhere apparent; though it was a religious festival with a hot sun beating down continuously, all were tolerant, good-tempered and free from fanaticism: never before had I been impressed by the charm of masses.”

-(Memoirs of an Aesthete, 1948, p.281)

The photographs in this section are an illustration of the interest of Harold Acton for different places and architectures in Peking. The most represented are the photographs dedicated to the Bei Hai Park. The park, with many of Chinese imperial gardens, was built to imitate renowned scenic spots and architecture from various regions of China. First built in the 11th century, it is among the largest of all Chinese gardens and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces, and temples. Since 1925, the place has been open to the public as a park. It is also connected at its northern end to the Shichahai. There are also some images recounting his trips to the temples on the Miao Feng Mountain, and to the Ming Tombs.

Blue Chinese Summer Court Robe 石青真丝纱金龙夏吉服

Silk gauze embroidered with polychrome silk and couched, wrapped gold threads

真丝制纱，五彩丝线及金线刺绣

Late Qing Dynasty Tongzhi – Guangxu period (1862-1908)

清同治 — 光绪年间 (1862-1908)

This is a semi-formal robe Jífú (吉服). The name for this type of robe is “Mangpao” (蟒袍), “pao” means robe and “mang”(蟒) means serpentine, it indicates here the embroidered dragon. This robe is specially worn for festivals, celebration of birthdays or other auspicious occasions. The color blue or indigo indicates that the robe originally could belong to an imperial official who is from the royal family or the imperial official who has the highest or second highest rank in the royal court. Usually they are only allowed to possess robes with four-claw dragons, because only the Emperor has the majesty to wear attires with five-claw dragons. However, if bestowed by and only by the Emperor the special permission, the official (on either of the statuses stated above) could wear an attire with five-claw dragons.

吉服通常于吉庆典礼时穿着。石青色蟒绣吉服通常为亲王或一、二品高级官员所穿。四爪龙纹称为蟒纹。只有在皇帝特赐时亲王或高官才可穿着五爪蟒袍。

There are varied techniques applied on sewing different patterns on the robe. The technique for sewing the dragon is the most sophisticated. The body of the dragon is embroidered using the technique “diélínzhēn”(叠鳞针), which realistically imitates the dragon scales and creates the shiny and lively effect.

这件吉服采用了多种针法绣制，龙纹绣制最为精细，采用叠鳞针法，生动突出了龙鳞的立体感和龙腾有律动的气势。

This robe most possibly belonged to Prince P’u Ru, who was one of the cousins of the last Emperor in China. He was also a teacher and friend of Harold Acton.

这件吉服极有可能原为溥儒所有。溥儒曾是哈罗德·艾克顿的国画师友。