China: A panoramic view overlooking the Yangtse River in a denuded area between Yunnan and Szechuan (Sichuan) provinces. Engraving by Louis Delaporte (1842-1925), 1868. This illustration by Louis Delaporte is one of dozens he produced during his two-year venture (1866-68) with the Mekong Exploration Commission sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy, the intention of which was to lay the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling the Mekong by boat, the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang, then farther north.

---

Size: 7444px × 2373px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1868, 19th, art, arts, asia, asian, century, china, chinese, colonial, colonialism, commission, delaporte, east, engraving, expedition, exploration, french, hill, historical, history, illustration, image, images, landscape, louis, mekong, mountain, panorama, pictures, province, river, sepia, sichuan, sketch, szechuan, yangtse, yangtze, yangzi, yunnan, yunnanese