Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [19th century] (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 scroll
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sir Harry Smith Parkes was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese Qing Empire from 1883 to 1885, and Minister to Korea in 1884. He was a Corresponding Member of the Society from 1854, and later a Non-Resident Member. He was also for some time the President of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
A biography of Sir Harry Smith Parkes was included in the proceedings of the Anniversary General Meeting on 18 May 1855, published in JRAS, Volume 17, Issue 3, July 1885.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Source of acquisition is unknown.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A reproduced rubbing of the calligraphy of the Chinese poem ‘Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess’ (洛神賦), signed by the Qing scholar Hu Gaowang (1730?-1798) in 1766, mounted onto a hanging silk scroll. The scroll measures 35cm (w) x 91cm (h).
Inscribed ‘This is a great curiosity’ at the top of the back of the scroll. A note, containing a free translation of the poem in English, was originally rolled into the scroll but has now been separated and stored together. At the back of it is two notes stating: ‘Translated by Harry Parkes’ and ‘The original roll was taken in a Piratical Junk by H. M. S. Rattler in Namguan Harbor. May 1853.’ Both the inscription and the notes are signed ‘A. M.’.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Please contact the Archivist.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- Chinese
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The translator Harry Parkes is presumably Sir Harry Smith Parkes, British consul in China.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
This item was catalogued by James Liu, RAS Archivist, in March 2026.