Ningbo, Zhejiang, China: Ningbo Tianhou Temple or Qingan Guildhall. Photograph by John Thomson, 1870/1871.

Courtyard of a temple with incense-burners and ornamental trees. The same building as in Thomson's negative number 350. Two spinning (?) globes under the central verandah. Under another verandah to the extreme left, what appears to be a camera on a tripod

The building is Ningbo Tianhou Temple or Qingan Guildhall, Ningbo, Zhejiang. Ningbo Tianhou temple was a late Qing reconstruction of the Song period Tianhou temple. The reconstruction took place in 1850 with donations from overseas Chinese shipping merchants; thus parts of the complex also functioned as a guildhall for those merchants. Because the original temple was a building by a native of Fujian, and Tianhou was a Fujianese goddess, the temple was also referred to as the Fujian temple. After the reconstruction it was renamed Qingan Guildhall, meaning to celebrate the goddess for pacifying the raging sea. This reconstructed temple is the most magnificent building in Ningbo, and according to Thomson it was the finest example of temple architecture in China. Huiguan or Guildhall was an important institution during the Ming and Qing periods, a place where people from the same profession or region could meet. In the imperial capital, Beijing, some of the guildhalls also provided accommodation for those who had travelled to the capital to take imperial examinations

1870

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion ; glass approximately 20.5 x 25.5 cm (8 x 10 in.)

Chinese guild temple, Ningpo guild temple, Ningpo Bears Thomson's negative number: "351"

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

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 84 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 18956i