Study of historic image materials should be strengthened

The fourth academic symposium on Chinese historiophoty was held from Dec. 16 to 17 in Beijing. Zhou Yong, a professor from Southwest University in Chongqing Mulicipality, said that historiophoty is still in its infancy in China. In particular, there has been no systemic compilation and study of basic historical image materials. Li Xuetong, a research fellow from the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, talked about the earliest images of China seen by the Western world. They are the 150 copperplate illustrations in Johan Nieuhof’s The First Visit to China by the Dutch. Nieuhof followed the Dutch East India Company to China during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi in the early Qing Dynasty. These illustrations provide a panoramic portrait of China at the time and are valuable materials with great historical significance.