Canton (Guangzhou), Kwangtung province, China: Manchu soldiers. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.

A group of eleven young men, wearing uniforms and hats with fur trim, lounging on a gun-carriage or sitting on the ground across a paved pathway. A ruined pagoda in the centre background. A white masking line framing the central area

The men are Manchu soldiers who were guards for Sir D. B. Robertson, the British consul at Guangzhou at the time of John Thomson’s visit. According to Thomson there were 1,800 Manchu soldiers in Guangzhou at the time, forming part of the government’s permanent garrison. Many of them, although extremely poor, were physically strong and fit, and so 'they would still make good soldiers'. A number, including these men, had been trained in the European system of drill and the use of foreign arms

1869

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion

Cantonese soldiers Canton China 28 Signed Bears Thomson's negative number: "667"

John Thomson, Illustrations of China and its people, London, 1873-4, vol. I, pl. XIV, "Tartar soldiers. The reader cannot fail to be struck with the fine manly build and soldierly appearance of the Tartar artillery-men shown in the photograph. These men formed the native guard of Sir. D.B. Robertson, our consul at Canton."

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 134 (reproduced)

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

Wellcome Collection 19576i