The Nazis Distrust of Sinology

For obscure reasons I've been reading quite a few of the old French Sinologists of the inter-war period lately. And one thing puzzled me a bit - why did the Nazis so seemingly hate and distrust the Sinology community in those countries it conquered? For instance, the fate of two of France's best Sinologists:

Two excellent graduates of both the École des Langues Orientales Vivantes and the École Française d’Extrême-Orient Paul Pelliot (1878-1945 - on the right) and Henri Maspero (1882-1945) - on the left) both fell foul of the Nazis during World War Two in Paris: both were arrested by the Gestapo who distrusted the Sinology community and forced the Société Asiatique to meet clandestinely. Pelliot, who had refused Nazi demands to officially register the Société, died shortly after the liberation of Paris (of cancer) while Maspero was accused of working with the French Resistance and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. Despite a plea from Erich Haenisch (1880-1966), the German Mongolist and Sinologist, author of the three volume linguistic study Lehrgang der Chinesischen Schriftsprache (1933) and former Professor of Mongol and Manchu at Berlin University as well as being Chair of Sinology at Leipzig University, to release him, Maspero died inside Buchenwald.

So I've long pondered why the Nazis so distrusted and seemingly despised Sinologists and Sinology? Of course the Nazis hated a lot of people - Jews, gypsies, slavs, leftists of all descriptions, gays etc so Sinologists are just another group to dislike. But why so apparently vehemently and more so than near east Orientalists for instance? Well, I've thought about and here's my theory for what it's worth:

The Nazis of course distrusted cosmopolitan Europe and harked back to various romantic rural Aryan idylls. They saw those parts of Europe that were agricultural and populated by people of good Saxon stock as 'authentic'. This was in contrast to the western seaboard of Europe with its cities, dominated by merchants, looking towards Britain and other, in the minds of the Nazis, ‘anti-European powers’. These ‘deracinated’ places and people had, in the Nazi mindset, turned against their European roots and were ‘infecting’ the rest of Europe with their ‘materialistic, bourgeois capitalist mentality’. Within this Europe the Nazis disliked were the major homes of European Sinology, looking to another non-European civilisation for ideas and answers and out of plain curiosity.

From the Baltic States, via northern Germany (the trading Hanseatic Hamburg was a city distrusted by many Nazis) and Denmark, down to Lisbon and, of course, England – a strip of cities, populated by bourgeois capitalists who liked to trade freely with others regardless of race and creed (though obviously employing gunboats etc when the mood took them). It was from this section of Europe that expeditions went out to discover the world, build empires and trade with countries such as China (Portugal to Macau, Dutch to the Spice Island, England to everywhere etc). The Nazis distrusted anyone who looked beyond Europe and anyone who seemed to be advocating free international trade and exchange. Sinologists then, both studying an ‘alien’ culture and one where European free traders had congregated, were then naturally to be distrusted. As usual with those the Nazis distrusted they were to be persecuted as the French Sinologists Pelliot and Maspero were and eventually annihilated as indeed Maspero was at Buchenwald.

Just thinking - I'd be fascinated to known any other theories or indeed any serious Sinologists who managed to find an accomodation with the Nazis. I was always told that there was no such thing as a good Nazi (or fascist) novel, play, work of art etc - was there any Nazi Sinology?

Carl and his 400 Million are Back

Shanghai based Earnshaw Books have finally got around to doing a reprint of Carl Crow's 400 Million Customers, originally published in 1937 and the best book on China ever written. The edition includes the original cartoons by the White Russian cartoonist Sapajou and a new foreword by yours truly.

Danwei have exerted a few pages to give you a taste too - click here to read it.

You can order the book online by clicking here.

The 1935 Shanghai Map is Back

A few years ago to coincide with the publication of my biography of Carl Crow I issued a reprint of Carl's famous 1935 map of Shanghai. It proved pretty popular and so due to popular demand we've had some more printed. They're still RMB250 and if you're in Shanghai we'll send them round by courier. If you're anywhere else we'll simply convert RMB250 to your local currency and add the postage - you can then just pop us a cheque. Below are some details about the map. Anyone interested just email on paul@accessasia.co.uk.

Carl Crow – Shanghai Municipal Council Shanghai Map – 1935

This illustrated full colour map of the city’s International Settlement was commissioned by the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) in 1935 to be provided to visitors to the city as a tourist guide. Carl Crow was hired to oversee the project and used local artist VV Kovalsky to draw the map. Crow added the sidebar comments on the “history, customs and points of interest in this cosmopolitan city of Shanghai”.

Carl Crow (1883-1945) was originally from Missouri and moved to Shanghai in 1911 to help found the English language China Press newspaper. Over the next few years he covered the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the development of Shanghai and the establishment of the Nationalist government. He worked briefly in Tokyo before returning to Shanghai to found the famous Carl Crow Inc, an advertising agency.

Crow was a prolific journalist and writer for publications such as Liberty, The Saturday Evening Post, Pearson’s, McClure’s and the Reader’s Digest. His best selling books included the Handbook for China (that ran through 13 editions between the wars), his series of anecdotes of business life in inter-war China, 400 Million Customers and a portrait of the foreign communities of the China coast, Foreign Devils in the Flowery Kingdom.

After being evacuated from Shanghai in 1937 following the Japanese invasion of the city, Crow returned to America. However, he was soon back in war-torn China travelling up the Burma Road from Rangoon to Chongqing. Crow died in 1945 in New York City. During his quarter of a century in China Crow interviewed and grew to know most of the major characters in the country’s history including Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Madam Chiang and Zhou En-lai.

VV Kovalsky was a White Russian émigré artist and cartographer who freelanced for various newspapers, periodicals and advertising agencies in Shanghai between the wars.

All About Shanghai

I've plugged the Earnshaw Books reprints of China classics before and will, unashamedly, again as they are excellent. The latest reprint is All About Shanghai and Environs - the 1934-35 Standard Guide Book - the classic guidebook from Shanghai’s roaring 1930s. Written with first-hand authority and an enthusiasm that is truly infectious, the authors captured and bottled the madness, excitement, depravity and fast bucks of the greatest boomtown the world had ever seen. Written as a guide for newcomers and visitors, this book today is a fascinating portrait of the old Shanghai in its heyday, enjoying every minute of the ride.

Peter Hibbard, a man who knows his old Shanghai, has contributed a foreword too which is useful. Earnshaw Books are available in Shanghai through Chaterhouse Books and other stores and in Beijing at the Beijing Bookworm and seem to be in all the bookshops in Hong Kong. There's a good website though where you can order direct - http://www.talesofoldchina.com/store/

Chinese Medals

A friend sent me some photos of the medals awarded to his grandfather by the Chinese government between the wars.

The Order of Wen-Hu (Order of Striped Tiger) looks cool top

The Order of the Precious Star of the Double Dragon is nice too

Last is the Order of the Golden Grain

The Hotel Moderne - Harbin

A quick dash through Harbin and not much time to do something I keep meaning to and stay at the Hotel Moderne. The hotel – famous between the wars and a major center of Jewish and foreign culture at the time (and Japanese spies) has predictably been mucked about a bit but is still sort of intact. In the old days the service was apparently impeccable - Chinese, Korean and White Russian employees mingled among the crowds attending musical performances.

According to the plaque outside put up by the Harbin Municipal Government’s Urban Planning Bureau – the hotel was built by a Russian-Jewish merchant in 1906 and completed in 1913; designed by CA Vensaen and qualifies as Art Nouveau. You get the idea from the ad.

I’m prompted to think about the Hotel Moderne not just after dashing through Harbin for a few hours but as I also recently came across this old luggage label from the place.
If you’re passing through the hotel is at 89 Central Street, Daoli District

Man and Wife of the Year

Time magazine’s tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927, when their editors sat around trying to think up stories during a slow news week.

A few notable people with China links have been given the award (occasionally women were also featured) - Wallis Simpson in 1936 as the first woman, though not of course for her Shanghai courtesan days but rather for nabbing a King (reputedly using some tricks she did learn in her Shanghai coutesan days). With the onset of the War in China Soong May-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) in 1937 with the Generallisimo – Time owner Henry Luce (or course himself born in China) was infatuated with her. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger got the honour (if being nominated for anything by a boring right wing magazine is indeed an honour?) in 1972 for opening relations with China and Deng Xiaoping in 1985 (the oldest person ever to be given the award) for being really old and launching the reform process.

No idea who’ll get it in 2008 (and don’t care much either - they gave it to Putin last year so their hit rate is hardly much good) but as the Chiangs appeared on the cover in January 1938 we can, I suppose, call this an annversary. And anyway Time’s 1938 Man of the Year was Adolf Hitler and I’m not putting a picture of him on my blog!