Yang-Tse-Kiang: From the Sea to Nanking, 1842
Engraving on paper backed with linen
Private collection
The British government sponsored the making of this map after its victory in the First Opium War (1839-1842). Captains C.R.D. Bethune, K. Kellet, and R. Collinson, taking advantage of the new access to the interior of China, surveyed its entire coast and riverway system. Accurate documentation of the Yangzi River was especially important to Westerners. The Treaty of Nanking offered new and profitable opportunities for Western traders in river ports such as Shanghai. Maps were essential visual tools put to economic and military ends. The iconic porcelain tower of Nanjing (Nanking) is featured prominently on this map, as well as in Thomas Allom’s illustration to the right.