Harbin to Hanoi: Colonial Built Environment in Asia, 1840 to 1940

1. Introduction

1 Introduction Victor Zatsepine and Laura Victoir This volume is the result of a discussion between its editors, both historians of empires, about the possibility of comparing the experiences of imperial European powers and Japan in the Pacific region during the period of time between the First Opium War (1839–42) and the Second World War (1939–45). This foreign intrusion and presence generated a large amount of material evidence on the eastern coast of the Asian continent . As a result, several Asian cities had entire districts designed and built by imperial powers. Several generations of Europeans, Russians, and Japanese moved to the colonies, treaty ports, and leased territories of Asia in search of economic gain, adventure, or government positions. The histories of individual imperial powers and colonial cities in different regions of Asia have been studied in great detail.1 However, the relationship between the built environment and history of colonialism and imperialism in Asia still deserves much needed cross-disciplinary attention. We came to realize how little dialogue exists between historians in different areas of study, not to mention the lack of scholarship comparing British, French, Russian, German, and Japanese imperialism , colonial practice, and built forms in Asia. The purpose of this book is to use the built environment to analyze the multiple experiences of colonial powers in China and northern Indochina. The colonial built environment can be viewed on several levels: as an expression of imperial aspirations, a manifestation of colonial power, a tool in the mission to civilize, a re-creation of a home away from home, or simply as a place to live and work for the colonizers and the colonized. The built environment is also a tangible artifact, one that had real impact on the daily life of those who resided and toiled there.2 Yet, the colonial space and structures, as they are presented to 2 Victor Zatsepine and Laura Victoir us in their physical forms today, tell only a very limited story of the people and powers behind them. The buildings themselves do not explain the process of designing, financing, and choosing the location, or legal arrangements involving land purchase, lease, and taxation. We learn little or nothing about the lives of construction workers, about the controversies and conflicts resulting from disruption of traditional life, for example the damage caused by European railways to rural trade, local fengshui, or ancestral temples. While diplomatic historians have analyzed different forms of European imperial expansion in Asia, such as gunboat diplomacy, military invasion, and opium trade, much remains unknown about everyday life in the colonies and treaty ports in Asia, and especially about interactions between Europeans and local populations. This volume brings together scholars working in city planning, architecture, and Asian and imperial history, to provide a more detailed picture of how colonization worked both at the top and at the bottom levels of society, and how it was expressed in stone, iron, and concrete. We show that the process of creating the colonial built environment was multilayered, complicated, and unpredictable. Our volume demonstrates that the relationship between the colonizers and colonized and the built environment transformed over time: the structures changed tenants, functions, surroundings, and even ownership. Some buildings were expanded, while others were destroyed or replaced with new ones, reflecting the emergence of new forces, historical circumstances, and preferences. Colonial built environments in Asia have outlived the empires that founded them to create lives of their own. This book explores three main themes: the first one is the interaction between colonial powers. We reject the idea that each empire or state had a purely unique colonial agenda, policy, or practice. Royal family ties and common interests of European powers in Asia created the need to negotiate and co-operate on issues ranging from diplomacy and military affairs to sharing space and services in the colonial setting. European empires and Japan went through common experiences in establishing and defending their spheres of influence. Their relations were further strengthened by the logic of international trade. They interchanged ideas, technology, resources, and housing arrangements. As European communities in Asia grew, the partnership between Introduction 3 them became more complex, both on official and non-official levels. Expanding global trade and economies linked colonial enclaves with each other and the rest of the world. This book strives to underline how, in the colonial world, global and local forces coexisted, as well as the necessity for...