China on display: the architecture of the Chinese pavilion at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition

After the Boxer Rebellion ended with China’s crushing defeat and the signing of the Boxer Protocol, China participated in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as its official debut at world’s fairs. The Chinese pavilion was supposed to represent the country’s national pride and cultural identity,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inArq (London, England) Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 153 - 168
Main Author Xie, Yinrui
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2022
Subjects
19th century
20th century
Architects
Architecture
Colonialism
Cooperation
Cultural identity
Culture
Fairs & exhibitions
History
Imperialism
Participation
Pavilions
Politics
Sovereignty
Treaties
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:After the Boxer Rebellion ended with China’s crushing defeat and the signing of the Boxer Protocol, China participated in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as its official debut at world’s fairs. The Chinese pavilion was supposed to represent the country’s national pride and cultural identity, yet ironically, the pavilion materialised the Chinese government’s weak position in its quasi-colonial relationship with the US – both politically and culturally – in terms of the appointment of architects, the design process, and the arrangement of construction. Such power interaction shaped an ambiguous ‘Chinese architecture’ presented at the fair, imitating the Beijing residence of a Chinese Prince while incorporating vernacular architectural elements from south China. It reflected the Chinese government’s early self-vision of its global image in an age of political turmoil and cultural uncertainty, and pioneered the exploration of an architectural ‘Chinese-ness’ in the early twentieth century.
ISSN:1359-1355
1474-0516
DOI:10.1017/S1359135522000240