Historical records from the last half of the
nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth were delivered
from the UK to Tianjin Municipal Archives on Sunday, and the next
day's Tianjin Daily included an interview with the experts
involved about their contents and significance.
A group jointly organized by Tianjin Municipal
Archives and Tianjin Municipal Social Science Federation collected
the materials from organizations in the UK including the National
Archives, British Museum, London University's School of Oriental
and African Studies and Oxford University.
The experts said the original records were
important additions to Tianjin Municipal Archives, precious
first-hand materials for the study and reevaluation of the city's
modern history.
They include records from the time of the British
Concession in Tianjin and from when the Eight-Power Allied Forces
invaded China, and comprise over 300 photos, 50 maps, 4,800 papers
and 20,000 micro-fiches.
The records were categorized by Chinese academics
as follows:
- Archives of the British Consulate in Tianjin,
including all correspondence from 1860 to 1952 and files on the
return of the British Concession in 1928;
- Archives of the British Consulate in Dagu,
including the correspondence from 1862 to 1875;
- Correspondence and confidential records of how
Tianjin was forced to set up and expand foreign concessions in
1860;
- Records of the expansion of the British
Concession in 1895;
- Materials about the Eight-Power Allied Forces'
invasion and occupation of Tianjin in 1900, including the British
War Department's records of the occupation of Tianjin and attack of
Beijing, the plan to enter Tianjin, a topographical map of Tianjin,
suggestions of withdrawal times for the allied forces, and the
reconstruction plan for the Haihe River between Tianjin and Tanggu;
and
- Tianjin church records from 1870 to 1871,
including British accounts of the Tianjin Church Incident in which
the French-built Wanghailou Church was burned down.
The photos include those of scenes after two
Dagukou Fort battles in 1859 and 1860, of Wanghailou Church before
and after the burning, and of the Eight-Power Allied Forces
attacking Tianjin.
The maps include a hand-drawn one of the
British-French United Army's invasion of Tianjin in 1860, one of
the Haihe River basin in 1860, of the Eight-Power Allied Forces
attacking Tianjin in 1900, a map of the Eight-Power Allied Forces'
departure of Tianjin to attack Beijing in 1900, a Tianjin map from
1900, a map of the concession in 1903, a map of Tianjin and
adjacent areas in 1908, and Tianjin suburban maps from 1927 and
1949.
(China.org.cn by Xu Lin December 1, 2005)
