26 February 2020 press release

Cricket Cage and Hookah: The Chinese Scholars’ House – A cultural export from around 1900 // Exhibition from 4 March to 15 September 2020 at the German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library in Leipzig.

Exhibition opening on 3 March 2020 at 19:30

The exhibition “Cricket’s Cage and Hookah: the Chinese Scholar's House – A cultural export from around 1900” organised by the German National Library’s German Museum of Books and Writing presents artefacts from the world of traditional Chinese scholarship. These were displayed during the 1914 World Book Exhibition in Leipzig and shed light on cultural curiosity and the vitality of international cultural transfer at the beginning of the 20th century. The exhibition will open at 19:30 on 3 March 2020.

With the EU-China summit and the conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies, China will be a strong presence in Leipzig in 2020. This being the case, the German Museum of Books and Writing will be putting on an exhibition dedicated to a rare cultural import from South-East Asia: the Chinese scholar's house displayed at the International Book Trade and Graphics Exhibition (Bugra) held in Leipzig in 1914. The richness of detail shown by the furnishings in the wooden house, which was a gift from the Chinese embassy in Berlin to the World Book Exhibition in Leipzig, gives eloquent testimony to the notion and practice of traditional scholarship in China.

The Chinese scholar's house consisted of three rooms: a study, a music room and a living room. It was furnished with numerous objects from the world of traditional Chinese scholarship. With artefacts such as hookahs, writing utensils, scrolls, cricket cages and ornamental tiles, the house's architecture and furnishings testify to the way in which the scholar worked, to inspiration, calligraphy and printing techniques. The scholar’s house was a true crowd-puller at the international exhibition. It reflects the cultural curiosity and vitality of international cultural transfer at the beginning of the 20th century.

The world exhibition, which opened on the eve of World War I in May 1914 and was characterised by an international vision that is still surprising even today, featured 22 nations exhibiting their products in an area encompassing more than 400,000 m2. 2.3 million people came to Leipzig’s exhibition centre to visit numerous national pavilions, industrial exhibitions and the pleasure park. The “Hall of Culture” designed by universal historian Karl Lamprecht, which was the intellectual centre of Bugra, provided insights into the written traditions of remote parts of the world. The Chinese scholar’s house had a special role to play in this hall: as a cultural import from China, the wooden house is an example of European enthusiasm for Asian culture, which was already exerting a significant influence on creative artists during the 19th century.

For the German Museum of Books and Writing as a scientific centre documenting book and media history, the Chinese culture of the written word is still the focus of research and collection activities today. As a pars pro toto of the Museum's interest in Asian culture, the end of the exhibition will be marked by the presentation of our latest Chinese acquisition: “Double Pigeon” typewriter, featuring several thousand metal letters which testify not least to the complexity of Chinese script. During the winter semester 2019/20, the typewriter was the subject of a seminar course held jointly with the University of Leipzig’s Institute of Chinese Studies under the direction of Professor Elisabeth Kaske.

The exhibition was organised with the support of the University of Leipzig’s Institute of East Asian Studies and the Confucius Institute and in cooperation with Leipzig University Library, the Museum of the Printing Arts and the Grassi Museum of Ethnology as part of the decentralised exhibition project “China in Leipzig”. Leipzig University Library is publishing a catalogue encompassing all four exhibitions with the title “China in Leipzig”.

Die Ausstellung wurde mit Unterstützung des Ostasiatischen Instituts der Universität Leipzig und des Konfuzius-Instituts; im Rahmen des dezentralen Ausstellungsprojektes „China in Leipzig“ in Kooperation mit der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, dem Museum für Druckkunst und dem Grassi-Museum für Völkerkunde realisiert. Einen gemeinsamen Katalog zu den vier Ausstellungen unter dem Titel „China in Leipzig“ gibt die Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig heraus.

"Grillenkäfig und Wasserpfeife: Das chinesische Gelehrtenhaus – Kulturexport um 1900." Cricket Cage and Hookah: The Chinese Scholars’ House – A cultural export from around 1900

Exhibition from 4 March to 15 September 2020 at the German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library in Leipzig.
Opening hours and admission
Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00
Thursday 10:00 to 20:00
Public holidays 10:00 to 18:00
Closed on Mondays
Admission free

Exhibition opening: 3 March 2020 at 19:30

Welcome: Michael Fernau, Director of the German National Library in Leipzig
Introduction: Dr Stephanie Jacobs, Director of the German Museum of Books and Writing
Presentation: Dr Gabriele Goldfuss, Head of the City of Leipzig’s Department of International Cooperation: China and Leipzig
Music: Qing Chai und Zhiyuan Luo

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Background

The book has shaped our culture and civilisation like no other medium. For centuries now, our knowledge of humanity and the world has been stored in books. The task of the German National Library's German Museum of Books and Writing is to collect, exhibit and carry out scientific work on testimonies to the history of books and media. Founded in Leipzig in 1884 as the Deutsches Buchgewerbemuseum (German Book Trade Museum), it is the world’s oldest museum of book culture, while its scope and holdings also make it one of the most important.

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Press image material is only available in German.