Preserving China: Liang Sicheng’s Survey Photos from the 1930s and 1940s

Abstract

In an endeavor to write a history of traditional Chinese architecture during the 1930s–1940s, Liang Sicheng (1901–1972) employed photography as the primary method of visual documentation because of its alleged ability to represent reality objectively. This article reexamines Liang’s survey photographs in light of the different interests in China’s cultural past taken by the state and foreign powers. In particular, by comparing photographs taken by Japanese architectural historians, whose research in China informed and justified Japan’s intention to construct a Japan‐centered Pan‐Asianism, I argue that Liang’s images of ancient buildings not only helped define China’s cultural heritage, but also evoked a nostalgic view of the past—a vision, to Liang, to be the only means of preserving China’s architectural tradition during the most tumultuous years in modern China.