The Image Of China Under The Lens Of Western Tourists In The Late Qing Dynasty

Westerners who travelled to China in the late Qing Dynasty,to some extent,played the role of “tourists”.They met the Westerners' curiosity of the distant Chinese Empire through photography,and it recorded the image of Chinese in the late Qing Dynasty.The depiction have retained the most authentic image of China.This article uses the photographs which taken by western tourists in China during the late Qing Dynasty as the research object,introduces the image analysis method into non-structural measurement methods,and use of NVIVO 11.0 quality analysis tool to encode the content of the photo data based on the theories of tourism gaze theory,cross-cultural theory,and grounded theory.Through the categorization of the concept of the coding results,the intrinsic correlation of the content of the pictures is analyzed and the image of China in the late Qing Dynasty from different angles.After research,it was found that,on the one hand,Western tourists in the late Qing Dynasty took photographs in China as an objectivity statement,which was mainly reflected a material landscape presenting the facts.It reflected the vast natural scenery of the late Qing Dynasty and the vastness of the mountains.Stretching for thousands of miles,the lush forests that cover the mountains are full of magnificent scenery.The ancient buildings of the historical decline have left behind the glory of the “Oriental Empire”.At that time,the sovereignty of the Qing Empire was lost,the national power has declined.On the other hand,tourists taking pictures is also a subjective statement,mainly reflected in the selective shooting of Chinese folk customs,and then depicted a Chinese image of the late Qing Dynasty on the basis of different cultural backgrounds.The closure of social feudalism,the poverty and backwardness of people on the ground floor,the savage morbidity of daily leisure activities,the cruel and indifferent nature of Chinese humanity,and the rich Chinese dress culture show that in the eyes of Western tourists.China was a feudal,obscure,backward,and savage disease society in the eyes of Western tourists.This kind of subjective statement reflects the encounter of Chinese culture and the collisions between different cultures,which further reveals the psychological maps and observational positions of Westerners in understanding China.