A Dance with the Dragon
By Julia Boyd
In A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking’s Foreign Colony Julia Boyd vividly depicts a little-known and fascinating community.
With its dissolute, extravagant group of fossil hunters, philosophers, diplomats, dropouts, writers, explorers, missionaries, and refugees, Peking’s foreign community in the early twentieth century was as exotic as the city itself. Always a magnet for larger than life individuals, Peking (now Beijing) attracted characters as diverse as Reginald Johnston (tutor to the last emperor), Bertrand Russell, Pierre Loti, Rabrindranath Tagore, Sven Hedin, Peter Fleming, Wallis Simpson, and Cecil Lewis.
The last great capital to remain untouched by the modern world, Peking both entranced and horrified its foreign residents, most of whom were cocooned inside the legation quarter: their own walled enclave, suffused with martinis, jazz piano and cigarettes. Ignoring the poverty outside their gates, they danced, played, and squabbled among themselves, oblivious to the great political events shaping modern China around them.
Others, more sensitive to Peking’s cultural riches, discovered their paradise too late – when it already stood on the brink of destruction. Although few in number, Peking’s expatriates were uniquely placed to chart political upheavals – from the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 to the communist victory of 1949.
Through extensive use of unpublished diaries and letters, Julia Boyd reveals the foreigner’s perceptions and reactions, their take on everyday life, and the unforgettable events that occurred around them. This is a dazzling portrait of an eclectic foreign community and of China itself. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Chinese society, modern Chinese history and culture, and all who enjoy history in general.
Praise for A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking’s Foreign Colony:
‘Julia Boyd tells the fascinating tale of the foreign community surviving in Peking between the end of the Ch’ing Dynasty and Mao’s communist revolution. It is a great story very well told – turmoil behind, turmoil ahead and turmoil all around’ – Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC and former Governor of Hong Kong
‘Based on a treasure-trove of original sources, this book gives an enthralling insight into the expatriate community in Peking during the half-century before the triumph of Mao. Anyone who wants to understand China’s relationship with foreigners, today as well as yesterday, should read it’ – Piers Brendon, author of The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
‘A fascinating account sourced from many previously unpublished letters and archives. Boyd’s characters flit on the surface of the city like water beetles, unaware of the depths below’ – Frances Wood, Curator of Chinese collections, British Library, author of China’s First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors
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