Beijing was historically known as Peking. As the capital cityfor both the Ming and Qing dynasties, Peking witnessed both0ultural exchanges and diplomatic confrontation betweenEast and West over a period of three hundred years. Thehistory of this period was recorded in many books publishedin Europe, which also included interesting images of oldPeking. This book is the first attempt of its kind to present thebest European illustrations of Peking in one volume. From theearliest visit of the East India Company's delegation to theQing's court in the middle of 17th century, to the decline ofChina's last imperial dynasty in the early 20th century, fromimperial court ceremonies to the life of ordinary Pekingese,from the historicat heritage of Chinese architecture to theimpact of European influence, this book provides us with arich tapestry of Peking' s social and architectural history. Themajority of the pictures here will be new to modern readers.These images, together with the accompanying text, bringthe old imperial city vividly to life. 作为明清两代皇都的老北京，在历史上三百年的时间里，经历了东西方文化贸易交流及其带来的外交冲突。许多在欧洲出版的书报记录了这一段历史，这些出版物中常配有生动感人的画面，描绘了那个时代老北京的风貌。本书是diyi次尝试将古旧西洋版画北京编辑成为一部画册，展现给现代读者。从17世纪荷兰东印度公司派遣使团觐见顺治皇帝，到20世纪初年清廷的败落，从皇室的荣耀到普通百姓的生活，从京城建筑文化的积淀到西方文明在京的影响，本书汇集的版画，以西方人的视角，为观赏皇都北京的风情提供了横跨三百年的历史画卷。许多画面今人始得相见，加上作者精心组织的说明，老北京在此获得新生。Susan spent all her childhood in Beijing and has many personalmemories of the old city walls and gates which survived until themiddle 1970' s. As Beijing grew and modernized rapidly in the pastfew decades, and attracted many more international visitors, Susanbecame more interested in discovering what had been revealed ofthe old city through the eyes of the earliest travelers from Europe.Together with her husband, they visited many antiquarian bookshops in Europe, mainly in England, to collect the illustrations ofimperial Peking contained in this book. Many prints were also foundin Hong Kong' s specialized antiquarian print shops. Building thiscollection also increased Susan' s interest in researching the historyof the period in order to provide any accompanying narrative for theimages. The process of collecting, researching and editing theseprints has been a fascinating journey, and they would like to sharetheir enjoyment with more people through this book. Susan is aninvestment banker by profession. 李弘是在北京长大的，现在还记得小时候曾见到过的城墙城门。眼看着北京日益发展成为国际化大都市，她发现几百年来西方版画描绘的老北京，开启了一扇回视皇城旧景的独特窗口。她和先生一起，在欧洲特别是英国及中国香港遍寻遗珍，同时孜孜探查版画后面的故事。这是一件乐趣无穷的旅行。希望通过这本书，大家可以一起分享其中的美妙。李弘的职业生涯是在投资银行领域。Roy Massey is a native of the United Kingdom, and has lived andworked in Hong Kong for 12 years. During this period, he has visitedBeijing more than 40 times. Helping his wife Susan to create thisbook gave him a deeper understanding of the history of the interac-tions between China and the Western world, which began muchearlier than most of us today realise. Enjoying the modern city, whilstlearning more about its history, has increased Roy' s affection forPeking, and reinforced his long time interest in Chinese art andculture. Roy is an executive with a Hong Kong listed company. 马思奇先生来自英国，已在香港生活工作了12个年头。他到访北京超过40次。帮助太太汇编这本书使他更加了解近代中西方交往的历史，它的起源远早于现代西方人一般的认识。历史的辉煌叠加今日的辉煌，让他对北京更加充满了热爱，对中国的艺术文化更加充满了热爱。马思奇先生就职于香港一间上市公司。
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