Hall of Classics (Guozijian), Peking: a triple archway of sculpted marble leading to the hall. Photograph, 1981, from a negative by John Thomson, 1871.

A large, triple-arched, gateway, faced with carved marble and decorative tiles. A man standing in the central opening. The ground is wet. "Through the arches can be glimpsed the Biyyongong or Imperial School Room" (Pearce loc. cit.)

Site of the Imperial Academy or Imperial College built in 1306. The Guozijian was built on the site in 1783. Later, the Capital Library and subsequently part of the Capital Museum

1981

1 photograph : photoprint

Temple Yuan Ming (Yuan?), China Bears Thomson's negative number: "490"

Nick Pearce, Photographs of Peking, China 1861-1908: an inventory and description of the Yetts collection at the University of Durham: through Peking with a camera, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005, no. 22, pp. 92-93

This is one of a collection of same-size contact prints made, in 1981, from John Thomson's original negatives. The glass negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921 and are now in the Wellcome Institute Library

Wellcome Collection 19237i