Jehol, Manchuria, in Winter

Pieter Irwin Brown

This color woodcut is of the Chinese city of Jehol in Manchukuo in the winter, with a gentle snow falling. Manchukuo comprises three provinces of North East China traditionally called Manchuria. The area was invaded by Japan in 1931 and it became a puppet state of Japan into the 1940s. After World War II Chinese sovereignty was reasserted over the area.

From his home in Kyoto, Brown made trips to China, Manchuria, and Korea. One of the places that especially interested him was Jehol, located in the northwest Chinese province of Hebei. The Chinese emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) had chosen Jehol as the site for an imperial summer palace because of its cool climate and natural beauty. The imperial palace was completed by Kangxi's successor Qianlong (1736-96), who also built many temples around the surrounding lakes and mountains. Jehol was abandoned in the late 19th century and had probably suffered from vandalism by the time Brown visited it.

Since the 1960's, Jehol (now called Chengde) has been protected and restored by the Chinese government. Brown made many drawings of this area which would later be turned into woodblock prints.