A Pictorial Autobiography by Zeng Jifen and China in the Early 1930′s

Abstract

Zeng Jifen (1852–1942), a daughter of the distinguished Qing official Zeng Guofan (1811–72), incorporated a sequence of sixteen paintings into her autobiography for the purpose of modeling the 'ancients’ practice of incorporating pictures and texts concurrently.' These paintings provide a clue to Zeng’s life course, which she recorded in the ensuing texts as entries of major events and incidents in chronological order. The entire work hence has the effect of a 'pictorial autobiography.' The 'ancients' Zeng refers to are in fact none other than her contemporaries or earlier generations who frequently combined images and texts for self-representation. The present study situates Zeng’s pictorial autobiography within these cultural trends, highlighting in particular the Qing gentry women’s use of their visual images to promote themselves as moral exemplars. While these earlier paintings often created cultural capital for the women and their families, Zeng’s autobiography enabled her to convey a broader social message. Published in 1931 and, again, in 1933 with an appended essay, this work opens a window into the Zeng family saga situated in a dynamic picture of China in transformation. Instead of labeling Zeng’s resort to traditional female virtue as part of the 'conservative' trends characterizing the 30’s, the present study interprets the work as Zeng’s response to what she perceived as the problems in China’s economic relations to the world, and especially the roles that women should play in finding solutions.