Lot #: 29175

Militairy manuscript map of the end of Yangzi River across Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang areas, with 3 red seals of the Ever-Victorious Army.

Maker:		MILITAIRY MAP
Date:		China, ca 1862
Colored:		In attractive original colors.
Size:		1019 x 1600 mm / 40.1 x 63 inches
Condition:		Manuscript map in brown, red and green ink and wash color. More than thousand houses with a red flag are named in chinese, military camps, mountains, forests, and battle fields are drawn in. Many city and village names are translated in pingyin an writte

$95000 / ≈ €81794

This item is available for immediate sale

Inquire or BuyNow

Questions before Buying ?
See FAQ and Answers
We are happy to assist.

Or do you like to be notified about newly added items?
Add your name to our mailing list.

Virtual Collection - Save and collect this or any of your favorite items in one place.
If you want to save the items permanently, please sign in
or create account first.

Add/Remove

See Your Virtual Collection

Description
FAQ - Guarantee - Shipping - More Info

Description

In the lower left corner, an inset plan of Songjiang District with Shanghai is shown with a grid, and the area is divided with red dotted border lines.The map has three red seals of the "Ever-Victorious Army", being the first Chinese army to incorporate western-style training and tactics, modern weaponry, and most importantly, the concept of light, fast-moving infantry units that could move faster than their opponents. Therefore, an accurate map is of the highest importance !

The map is clearly a military map and has likely served the army when the Taiping rebels ruled the region and twice attacked Shanghai. The rebels destroyed the city's eastern and southern suburbs, but failed to take the city. It is not unreasonable to assume that the Ecer Victorious Army under Ward and Gordon saved Shanghai from destruction during the Taiping Rebellion.

The Ever Victorious Army (Chinese 常勝軍 , pinyin : cháng shèng jūn)
was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th-century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions.
The Ever Victorious Army consisted of Chinese soldiers trained and led by a European officer corps. Though the Army was only active from 1860 to 1864, it was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. It was the first Chinese army that was trained in European techniques, tactics, and strategy. As such, it became a model for later Chinese armies.

The Ever Victorious Army had its beginnings as a force formed under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward, a New England (American) shipmaster, in 1860. Ward introduced what were, for the time, radical ideas involving force structure, training, discipline, and weaponry. He believed that well-trained, disciplined, mobile units could defeat larger forces lacking these qualities. He believed in a more flexible command structure.

The new force originally comprised about 200 mostly European mercenaries, enlisted in the Shanghai area from sailors, deserters and adventurers. Many were dismissed in the summer of 1861, but the remainder became the officers of 1,200 Chinese soldiers recruited by Ward in and around Sungkiang. The Chinese troops were increased to 3,000 by May 1862, all equipped with Western firearms and equipment by the British authorities in Shanghai. Throughout its four-year existence, the Ever Victorious Army was mainly to operate within a thirty-mile radius of Shanghai. Following Ward's death in September 1862 after the Battle of Cixi, command of the Ever Victorious Army quickly passed to Charles George Gordon.

The Ever Victorious Army numbered around 5,000 soldiers at its height. It often defeated rebel forces, which were numerically much larger, because it was better armed, better commanded, and better trained. It was the first Chinese army to incorporate western-style training and tactics, modern weaponry, and most importantly, the concept of light, fast-moving infantry units that could move faster than their opponents.

Frederick Townsend Ward

Ward's career was a stormy one. During his early military service for the Imperialists, he was summoned before the American Consul in Shanghai, charged with inducing the desertion of British and American sailors. Many of these sailors, attracted by the promise of adventure, high pay, and perhaps loot, had joined his "Ever Victorious Army." Presumably to avoid trial, Ward renounced his American citizenship and became a subject of the Emperor.

Later, however, both the British and Americans welcomed the help of Ward's army in keeping the Taipings out of Shanghai and he was hailed as a hero. Waged with the utmost ferocity by both Imperialists and rebels, the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1865) ravaged eleven of the wealthiest provinces of China and caused the death of 20,000,000 people.

FAQ - Guarantee - Shipping

Buying in the BuyNow Gallery
This item is available for immediate purchase when a "Add to Cart" or "Inquire Now" button is shown.
Items are sold in the EU margin scheme
Payments are accepted in Euros or US Dollars.

Authenticity Guarantee
We provide professional descriptions, condition report (based on 45 years experience in the map business)
Paulus Swaen warrants the authenticity of our items and a certificate of authenticity is provided for each acquired lot.

Condition and Coloring
We indicate the condition of each item and use our unnique HiBCoR grading system in which four key items determine a map's value: Historical Importance, Beauty, Condition/Coloring and Rarity.

Color Key
We offer many maps in their original black and white condition. We do not systematically color-up maps to make them more sellable to the general public or buyer.
Copper engraved or wood block maps are always hand colored. Maps were initially colored for aesthetic reasons and to improve readability. Nowadays, it is becoming a challenge to find maps in their original colors and are therefor more valuable.
We use the following color keys in our catalog:
Original colors; mean that the colors have been applied around the time the map was issued.
Original o/l colors; means the map has only the borders colored at the time of publication.
Colored; If the colors are applied recently or at the end of the 20th century.
Read more about coloring of maps [+]

Shipping fee
A flat shipping fee of $ 30 is added to each shipment by DHL within Europe and North America. This covers : International Priority shipping, Packing and Insurance (up to the invoice amount).
Shipments to Asia are $ 40 and rest of the world $50
We charge only one shipping fee when you have been successful on multiple items or when you want to combine gallery and auction purchases.
Read more about invoicing and shipping

FAQ
Please have a look for more information about buying in the BuyNow gallery
Many answers are likely to find in the general help section.

Virtual Collection
With Virtual Collection you can collect all your favorite items in one place. It is free, and anyone can create his or her Virtual map collection.
Unless you are logged in, the item is only saved for this session. You have to be registed and logged-in if you want to save this item permanently to your Virtual Collection. Read More[+]
Register here, it is free and you do not need a credit card.
Add this item to Virtual Collection or click the following link to see my Virtual Collection.

High-Resolution Digital Image Download
Paulus Swaen maintains an archive of most of our high-resolution rare maps, prints, posters and medieval manuscript scans. We make them freely available for download and study. Read more about free image download	Click the image for a free HR-image download. Militairy manuscript map of the end of Yangzi River across Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang areas, with 3 red seals of the Ever-Victorious Army.

YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL THE PURCHASE OF A LOT
In accordance with the EU Consumer Rights Directive and habitually reside in the European Union you have the right to cancel the contract for the purchase of a lot, without giving any reason.
The cancellation period will expire 14 calendar days from the day after the date on which you or a third party (other than the carrier and indicated by you) acquires, physical possession of the lot. To exercise the right to cancel you must inform Paulus Swaen Inc, of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, or e-mail (amsterdam@swaen.com).
To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired.