Christmas card dated Xmas 1932 which Mildred Dibden made from postage stamps and sent to her brother in England. You can just make out the date on one of the stamps. This was her second Christmas in Hong Kong when she was at the BCMS Children's Home in Broadwood Road. We see a Chinese man fishing. His hairstyle is a carry-over from the Qing Dynasty, when it was obligatory for men to wear their hair in a queue or pigtail, and shave the front of the head. When that ended in 1911, queues were cut off, but it seems the style/fashion remained, as here in 1932.
Regarding the inscription, it's a verse of scripture from Isaiah 30:15 - 'In quietness and trust shall be your strength.'
Date picture taken
1932
Comments
"Chinese" man fishing ?
I am not so sure that we are looking at a Chinese man fishing in this picture. The man’s hairstyle is more akin to the Japanese ‘Chonmage’ male style of hairdressing during the Edo period, rather than the Chinese Q’ing dynasty style. His garment ( cleverly coloured with used postage stamps) looks rather like a Japanese style cotton kimono (‘yukata’). Even the background mountains are suggestive of a Japanese woodblock print.
Japanese woodblock print?
I have sent this to my family in Japan for their opinion. Watch this space.
Comments from Japan
My team of Japanese analysts have made the following comments re the above picture:
"The chonmage is a traditional Japanese topknot hairstyle historically worn by men, especially samurai and sumo wrestlers. It involves shaving the top of the head and tying the remaining hair into a topknot that is folded forward onto the crown."
Thank you for raising these queries, Chinarail. My knowledge of specialist Japanese terms is weak and I have learnt something.