Chang the Chinese Giant

Below, some photographs from the author's collection of pictures of old China (or old pictures of China, if you prefer) - pictures of Chang the Chinese Giant, once a very famous name. 

Chang the Chinese Giant, 1870. 

His stage name was Chang Woo Gow. His real name was Zhan Shichai. Son of a Confucian scholar. He toured the world, including Australia, earned a good salary of over $500 US a month, received a good education and learnt ten languages. He married a woman named Catherine Santley whom he met in Sydney. When he died his coffin was 8 feet 6 inches long.

Here he is, quite young, with a stage midget named Chung Mow (less than 3 feet tall). The picture is from the Glasgow Herald, 1865, reprinted in a work entitled The Adventures of a Travelling Musician in Australia, China & Japan, by Marquis Chisholm. 

Finally, here is Chang in European clothes - this picture from the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. 

Yours,

Harper McAlpine Black