Landmark exhibition on the history of Chinese communities in Britain opens at the British Library

Posted on 22 November 2022 • Arts and social sciences

A fascinating exhibition, co-curated by an OU academic, that celebrates 300 years of the history of Chinese communities living in Britain has opened at the British Library in London.

Chinese and British runs until 23 April next year and was put together by Dr Alex Tickell, Senior Lecturer in English at the OU, and Dr Lucienne Loh, Reader in English Literature at the University of Liverpool.

British Chinese individuals can trace their origins to regions across east and southeast Asia and one of the founding principles of the exhibition has been to highlight the diverse backgrounds and varied contributions of the community.

Alex said hate crimes against British Chinese communities increased during the Covid 19 pandemic, and the exhibition also seeks to raise public awareness about ‘Chinese Britain’.

Alex commented:

“British Chinese people have had a profound, lasting impact on the UK’s culture and society, from wartime service and the nation’s cuisine to achievements in literature, sport, science, engineering, music and fashion.”

The free exhibition, sponsored by tax, accounting and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, looks back on this history through personal stories and moments of national significance to ask: what does it mean to be Chinese and British?

Exhibits include:

• Items loaned from individuals and community groups include a doll’s house model of a Chinese takeaway (main picture), made by Polin Law, based on an actual family business. Others include personal documents, family photos and items relating to seafaring, laundry work and catering.

• Manuscripts, notes and letters written by Michael Alphonsus Shen Fuzong, the first documented person from China to visit England in 1687, feature, too. The Catholic convert met King James II and collaborated with Thomas Hyde, the librarian at Oxford University’s Bodleian library, to translate Chinese texts.
• Well-known 1940s footballer Frank Soo. A charismatic figure born in Derbyshire to a Chinese father and an
  

  Frank Soo, Chinese and British 1940s footballer

  English mother and the first non-white football player to play for England. Soo played professionally for Stoke City, Leicester City, Luton Town and Chelmsford City, and later managed the Norwegian national team. He served in the RAF and captained their football team.

• Items relating to wartime service by Chinese Labour Corps workers employed from 1916 to support front-line troops in WW1 and merchant seamen on the dangerous Atlantic convoys in WW2. These include pieces of ‘trench art’ created by Chinese Labour Corps workers as souvenirs during and after WW1 such as engraved German artillery shell casings and rings made from silver French francs.
• Artefacts relating to politicians such as Anna Lo and key figures in science and technology such as Lu Gwei-Djen and Charles Kao.

More than 30 public libraries in the BL’s Living Knowledge Network will be hosting the Chinese and British exhibition as it tours across the UK from Aberdeen and Exeter to Bournemouth and Belfast, attracting an estimated 700,000 visitors. Local libraries will display exhibition panels and curate items in their own archives relating to the British Chinese community.

A programme of in-person and online events inspired by the exhibition will also showcase the vibrant history of Chinese British communities across the UK.

Picture credits: British Library; The Sentinel and Stoke on Trent Live