The China Society of London (also known as the China Society) was an organization founded in 1889 to promote British interest in Chinese cultural and social affairs. It hosted lectures by distinguished speakers, published academic papers, and co-organized major exhibitions of Chinese art.Austin Seckersen, The History of the China Society London (The China Society, 1984).
History The Society was founded by Byron Brenan, former British Consul-General in Shanghai, after his retirement to the UK, to promote British interest in Chinese cultural and social affairs (rather than trade). It was officially endorsed by the Guangxu Emperor of China, with a gift in 1908 of a 5,000 fascicle set of the Imperial Encyclopedia (欽定古今圖書集成 Qin ding gujin tushu jicheng), which is now on loan in the Cambridge University Library. Its headquarters were at 31B Torrington Square, London WC1.
Presidents of the China Society included Major-General Sir Neill Malcolm, Colonel Kenneth Cantlie, Michael Loewe. Lionel Giles was "the last survivor of the founders of the China Society and for half a century he took a leading part in all the society's activities”Dr Lionel Giles, Obituary by Henry McAlreavy, The Times, 30 January 1958, p. 10. https://www.thekingscandlesticks.com/webs/pedigrees/477.html
Exhibitions The Society collaborated in presenting major exhibitions of Chinese art, including the “Exhibition of Modern Chinese Painting”, co-organized with the China Association, and displayed at the New Burlington Galleries, London, in 1935.Michelle Ying-Ling Huang, Establishing reputation : exhibitions of prominent Chinese painters in Britain, 1935-1980 (PhD thesis, University of St Andrews, 2016) https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/establishing-reputation-exhibitions-of-prominent-chinese-painters/
Selected Publications The Society organized regular academic lectures, often publishing the transcripts, initially as books, and from 1942 onwards, in the China Society Occasional Papers series.China Society Occasional Papers, entry in the National Library of Australia catalogue. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/768264 Accessed 24 July 2026 1912 W. Perceval Yetts, Symbolism in Chinese art – lecture, 18 Jan 1912 1912 Oliver Bainbridge, The Heart of China - lecture, 30 October 1912 1913 Office-bearers, Statutes, Papers read, Publications, Members 1916 Laurence Binyon, The Art of Asia - lecture, 24 Nov 1915 1917 William McLeish, Life in a China Outport 1935 The Modern Chinese Literary Movement - A cultural review delivered during the lead-up to the International Exhibition of Chinese Art 1936 Joseph Hackin et al., Studies in Chinese art and some Indian influence, lectures delivered in connection with the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy 1940 W. Perceval Yetts, Sinological Series 2. 1941 Harold John Timperley, Some Contrasts between China and Japan in the Light of History 1944 Lionel Giles, Six Centuries in Tunhuang The Chinese Core of Structural Philosophy 1947 Herbert Chatley, The origin and diffusion of Chinese culture – lecture, 29 Oct 1947 1948 The Rise of the Dragon in Chinese Art 1952 Henry McAleavy, Wang T'ao: The Life and Writings of a Displaced Person - lecture, 22 May 1952 1955 James Jo-Yü Liu, Elizabethan and Yuan. A brief comparison of some conventions in poetic drama – lecture, 19 Jan 1954 (Occasional Paper 8) "West" and "East" and the Chou Dynasty (Occasional Paper 11) 1965 Maurice Freedman, The Chinese in South-East Asia: a longer view – lecture, 17 Jun 1964 (Occasional Paper 14) 1965 Nine Dragon Screen – being reprints of nine addresses and papers presented to the China Society, 1909-1945 1984 Austin Seckerson, The History of the China Society The Creation of the Chinese Script (Occasional Paper 20) 1992 Robert Bickers, Changing Shanghai's “mind”: publicity, reform and the British in Shanghai, 1928-1931 – based on a lecture to the Society on 20 Mar 1991 (Occasional Paper 26)
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