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原创 老照片：慈禧太后派大臣给使馆送肖像，前呼后拥声势浩大
2020-09-17 08:00
现在网络上流传着慈禧太后的很多照片，这些都是1903年裕德龄为她拍摄的。内务府特意设立《圣容账》，专门记录每张照片里慈禧的衣服、首饰以及照片的装裱、使用情况。
慈禧太后拍摄这些照片，未必是个人爱好，而是有着明确的目的，那就是向列强示好。庚子国变之后，慈禧用了一些柔性的手段改善邦交，比如邀请外国公使家眷到颐和园游玩，搞“夫人外交”；另外，就是把照片派上用场，可称之为“照片外交”。
1903年照片洗印之后，慈禧太后把自己的肖像照片送给外国使节，外国总统或君主。外务部尚书那桐常常被指定承办此事。根据那桐在日记中的记载，仅1904年11月，慈禧太后先后向9个国家赠送肖像。
那桐在11月12日的日记中写道：“早进内，皇太后、皇上升皇极殿，奥、美、德、俄、比公使呈递贺万寿国书，赏桐饭吃，巳刻礼毕。皇太后赠五国国主、五国公使照相各一张，用黄亭，由内务府送至外务部，桐同联侍郎送至五馆。桐复进内复命，申正归。”11月23日，他又写道：“英、法、日、韩国使臣递国书。午刻送皇太后圣容到四馆。”
那桐前往使馆送照片的部分细节被照相机记录下来。从定格的现场来看，慈禧的两张肖像照分别装在黄亭里，由外务部的差弁抬着，紧随华盖之后，走向东交民巷某使馆。等那桐一行赶到时，某国公使已在大门口迎接。随后，包裹完整的照片被抬出来，小心翼翼地安置到房间里。
两张照片均配有雕花金漆镜框，一张送给该国公使馆，一张由公使馆转送该国国主，其中后者尺寸稍大。我们看到，皇太后的一张照片就要占据一个奢华的黄亭（其实就是轿子），前呼后拥声势浩大，像抬着她本人一样。
在那桐送照片之前，慈禧太后的肖像画已经走出国门，参加了大型展会——1904年圣路易斯世界博览会。此事的肇因也源自1903年。
当年夏天，美国公使康格的夫人萨拉当面向慈禧建议，送一幅画像参展，可以让更多的国家了解大清国，让世界一睹慈禧太后的真容。慈禧接纳了这个意见，并请画家凯瑟琳·卡尔进入颐和园绘制肖像。
这幅画像高484厘米、宽203厘米，远大于常人的比例，气派非凡。1904年初启程运送美国，其过程为：由北京乘火车运至天津，在天津塘沽登船开往上海，在上海乘船到旧金山，从旧金山乘专车到圣路易斯指定场馆。整个运送时间接近2个月。
据驻美公使梁诚报告外务部，子夜时分皇太后的“圣容”挂出后，“中外男女翘首瞻仰，皆以幸得瞻就云日为希有之遭逢也”。
世博会结束后，这幅画像由梁诚代表清廷致赠美国总统罗斯福，之后罗斯福转赠给史密森尼博物馆收藏。返回搜狐，查看更多
声明：该文观点仅代表作者本人，搜狐号系信息发布平台，搜狐仅提供信息存储空间服务。
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Original old photo: Empress Dowager Cixi sent a minister to the embassy to send portraits, and the crowds gathered before and after
2020-09-17 08:00
Many photos of the Empress Dowager Cixi are circulating on the Internet. These were taken by Yu Deling in 1903 for her. The Ministry of Internal Affairs specially set up the "Holy Rong Account" to record Cixi's clothes, jewelry, and the mounting and use of the photos in each photo.
Empress Dowager Cixi.
The photos taken by Empress Dowager Cixi are not necessarily personal hobbies, but have a clear purpose, that is to show good to the powers. After the Gengzi National Change, Cixi used some flexible methods to improve diplomatic relations, such as inviting foreign ministers and family members to play in the Summer Palace, engaging in "lady diplomacy"; in addition, they used photos in hand, which can be called "photo diplomacy."
After the photos were washed and printed in 1903, Empress Dowager Cixi sent her portrait photos to foreign envoys, foreign presidents or monarchs. Shangshu Natong of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is often appointed to undertake this matter. According to the records in Na Tong's diary, only in November 1904, Empress Dowager Cixi presented portraits to 9 countries.
The photo of Empress Dowager Cixi was carried to the foreign embassy.
Na Tong wrote in his diary on November 12: "Entering early, the Empress Dowager and the emperor will rise to the Imperial Palace, and the ministers of Austria, the United States, Germany, Russia, and Belgium will present the letter of congratulation for the longevity, enjoy the Tong rice and eat, and engrave it. At the end of the ceremony. The Queen Mother presented a photo of each of the five nations’ lord and five nations’ ministers, with a yellow pavilion, sent from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Tongtong to the fifth hall. Tongfu returned to life and Shenzheng returned. "On November 23, he wrote: "The envoys of Britain, France, Japan, and South Korea handed over the letter of credence. The Empress Dowager was sent to the fourth hall at noon."
The photo of Cixi was carried into the embassy of a certain country, with Na Tong on the second right.
Some details of Natong's photos sent to the embassy were recorded by the camera. Judging from the freeze-frame scene, the two portraits of Cixi were installed in the yellow pavilion. They were carried by the officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They followed the canopy and walked to the embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane. When Na Tong and his party arrived, the minister of a certain country greeted him at the gate. Afterwards, the complete picture of the package was carried out and carefully placed in the room.
The photos of Cixi were carried indoors.
Both photos are equipped with carved gold lacquer frames, one is given to the country’s embassy, and the other is forwarded by the embassy to the country’s host, the latter of which is slightly larger. We saw that a photo of the empress dowager would occupy a luxurious yellow pavilion (in fact, it is a sedan chair), and the crowd was huge, like carrying her herself.
Before Natong sent the photos, the portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi had gone abroad and participated in a large exhibition-the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. The cause of this incident also originated in 1903.
In the summer of that year, Sarah, the wife of the American Minister Conger, suggested to Cixi that she should send a portrait to the exhibition, so that more countries can understand the Qing Dynasty and the world can see the true face of Empress Cixi. Cixi accepted this opinion and asked the painter Catherine Carr to enter the Summer Palace to paint a portrait.
Portrait of Empress Dowager painted by Catherine.
This portrait is 484 centimeters high and 203 centimeters wide. In early 1904, it set off for transportation to the United States. The process was as follows: take a train from Beijing to Tianjin, board a ship in Tanggu, Tianjin to Shanghai, take a ship from Shanghai to San Francisco, and take a special bus from San Francisco to designated venues in St. Louis. The entire delivery time is close to 2 months.
The special train carrying the portrait of Cixi departed from Beijing to Tianjin.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Liang Cheng in the United States, after the Queen Mother's "Holy Face" was hung up at midnight, "Chinese and foreign men and women look forward to seeing the clouds and the sun as a rare encounter."
After the World Expo, this portrait was presented by Liang Cheng to President Roosevelt of the United States on behalf of the Qing court, and then presented to the Smithsonian Museum by Roosevelt. Return to Sohu to see more
Disclaimer: The opinions of this article only represent the author himself. Sohu is an information publishing platform. Sohu only provides information storage space services.
