Image: VIEW OF A CASTLE, Near the City of Tien-sin

Description: Drawing by William Alexander, draughtsman of the Macartney Embassy to China in 1793. A fort near Tianjin situated on a point at the confluence of three rivers, the Pei-ho, the Yun-leang, and the When-ho. The city of Tianjin was carefully guarded since it was the chief harbor for shipping, and principal depot for merchandise in China. This fortification was thirty-five feet in height, and built with bricks, except the foundation, which was of stone, and has been partly undermined; the surrounding country being very low and marshy. A guard of soldiers was constantly stationed there, and, in cases of turmoil, the sentinels gave the alarm to the adjacent military posts, in the daytime by hoisting a signal, and at night by the explosion of fireworks; on which the neighboring garrisons would arrive to the spot. On the upper landing there is a building to shelter sentinels on duty; one of them is beating a gong, to announce to the garrison the approach of a viceroy or mandarin of rank ; on this notice, they immediately form in a rank, and stand under arms to salute him. Within the parapet a lantern is suspended, and in the opposite angle the imperial standard is elevated; the color of the tablet, with the inscription on it, likewise shows it to be a royal edifice. In Johan Nieuhoff's account of the Dutch Embassy, which was sent to Peking in the year of 1650, there is a print either of this tower, or one similar to it, which stood on the same site. The hillocks of earth under a clump of trees, seen in the distance, are burying-places. Image taken from The Costume of China, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings, published in London in 1805.
Title: VIEW OF A CASTLE, Near the City of Tien-sin
Credit: Internet Archive
Author: William Alexander
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No