Chinese Architecture in Tianjin

Map of the Chinese walled city
( published in ca.1825 in the Jinmen baojia tushuo 津門保甲圖說 . )

Map and short description of Tientsin, by Noah F. Drake; 1900.

The wall shown in this early photographic print, was ordered to be build around Tianjin as a military outpost under the Yongle emperor. It was constructed in 1404, measured 1626 zhang 仗 (one zhang is about ten feet, although this may vary) long and was rectangular shaped. It was repaired in 1493, and again in 1586. In 1654 and again in 1574, it had to be rebuild. Presumably then the towers in the Northeast, the Northwest, the Southeast and the Southwest (which can be seen in the city map of 1825 in case #1) were added during this period.

The wall's four sides, aided by a moat and facing various directions and elements, each had its own Chinese appellation and purported function, such as the Wall facing the Sacred Capital (pointing north, towards Beijing); or the section Reaching South towards the Yangzijiang and the fertile Huai regions; the section in the East, embracing the sea; from the West, inviting [travelers] from all (other) directions.

北扶神京﹐

東連滄海 ,

南達江淮 ,

西引方行 .

Topographical conditions in the area being what they were (wet and swampy, that is), a watergate was installed, which helped channel the waters of the Hai River away and around the city proper along the bed of the moat.

Old Homes of Tianjin – Impressions from an old city; edited and inscribed by Feng Jicai 馮驥才 , 1995.

The author of this book, Feng Jicai, one of the foremost “literati activists” in contemporary China, has been instrumental in recording and preserving Tianjin's ancient architectural heritage. A self-declared folklorist, novelist and media critic, Feng uses every venue to remind the new, urgently progressing China of its old lore and folkways. Politically active in many ways, Feng is a member of, for example, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and thus has considerable influence on the national agenda regarding the treatment of China's immense cultural heritage.

Feng Jicai

The illustrations here represent an old style court house (The Xu Family home) with various side buildings. An unusual feature of this compound is the roof over the courtyard, which is supported by a steel structure.

Memorial buildings commemorating Li Hongzhang, Chinese statesman and minister, viceroy, imperial tutor and member of the grand council of the empire, 1823-1901; photograph taken ca. 1909.

The Tianjin Viceroy's yamen, as seen from across the river; ca.1909

The Tianjin Yamen (according to Tissot, 1885)

Chinese style garden adjacent to a government building in Tianjin. After an engraving published in Victor Tissot's "La Chinese d'après les voyageurs les plus récents", Paris 1885. "

The Tianjin-illustrations by Jean Nieuhoff, 1665
(Note: these are the earliest illustrations of Tianjin that we could locate anywhere, in western or Chinese publications. They may therefore be of significance.)

Original title in Dutch: Gezantschap der Neerlandtsche Ost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China.

English title: An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces [i.e. the Dutch Netherlands], to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperour of China.

By Johannes Nieuhoff, Steward to the Ambassadors; this 1st [French] edition printed in 1668.

Originally published in 1665.

According to Feng Jicai, what is depicted on the right here is the so-called Bei pao tai, or the Northern Watchtower, a structure on the north side of the river, at the entrance to the Tianjin harbor.

This book gives a detailed description of the Embassy to China undertaken in 1655-1657 by Pieter van Goyer and Jakob Keyzer on behalf of the Dutch East-India Company. The engraving shown here and subtitled Tiencienwei is the very first graphic representation of Tianjin in a western publication. The embassy’s chronicler records with astonishment the overwhelmingly mercantile character of Tianjin in the following words:

“The city of Tiencienwey it self lies thirty Miles from Singlo, built also with strong Walls twenty five Foot high, full of Watch-Towers and Bulwarks, and the Place much set forth with Tempes, very populous, and so full of Trade, that hardly the like Commerce is to be found in any other City in all China; for whatsoever Vessels are bound for Peking from any other part of China, must touch here, which occasions an extraordinary Traffick to Shipping which lie continually before this City. Here is also the Staple of all Commodities, this being a free Port, and no custom paid for any Goods Exported or Imported.”

Click on image for larger sized file.

The residence of the French and English Ambassadors

Late 19th century Chinese houses in Tianjin, belonging to affluent merchant families.

Copyright 2004
Wason Collection on East Asia
and Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853
Webmaster.