Signs, using either words or visuals, are emblems for traditional Chinese shops and trades.
Signs were made of inscribed boards, couplets, plates or posts written with the names of the shops. Either hung on the upper part of the doors, pillars or walls of shops, or fixed on the ground outside or on the counters inside shops, they were a part of the features of shops. In addition to inscribed words, some signboards were marked with designs and drawings. The choice of the form of the signboard was determined by the line Of business, scale and facade style of the shop. A juxtaposition of several forms could be used, or simply one or two forms. No rules were ever fixed concerning the use of signs.
As symbols of shops, and trades ,signboards and flags have their own peculiar Chinese'flavor and are part of a long-standing and well.established tradition.
With paintings :and photographs of scenes of business premises, workshops and fairs, this book presents nearly a hundred types of signboards prevalent in Chinese commercial districts at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The purpose of this collection is to resurrect the market setting and street scenes of bygone days. The descriptions in thebook will give readers a glimpse of the emergence and evolutlon of Chinese signboards and the folk culture imbued in them, as well as the personages, events and business conditions in those earlier days.
5/Preface
16/Wine-shop banner
19/Wine and food shop
21/Sign of a wine and food restaurant
22/Sign for an ordinary eatery
24/Flour shop sign
26/Sign for a cut-noodle shop
27/Sign for a steamed-bun shop
28/Rice shop sign
30/ Teashop sign
32/Sign for a milk-tea shop
34/Sign for a sesame-oil shop
37/Ginger shop sign
38/Vinegar shop sign
40/Sign for a bamboo-shoot shop
42/Butcher shop sign
44/Pudding shop sign
46/Pastry shop sign
49/Sign for sweet dumpling shops
50/Sign for a vermicelli workshop
52/Sign for a betel shop
53/Sign for a Jadite-inlaid jewelry workshop
54/Sign for a ]ewel store
56/Sign for a costume-jewelry shop
57/Sign for a plait-string shop
58/Sign for a horsetail bun shop
59/Wig store sign
61/Hat shop sign
64/Sign for an official-rank feather shop
66/Sign for a used-clothing shop
68/Sign for a shoe store
70/Sign for a sole workshop
72/Sign for a vamp cloth shop
73/Wooden sole shop
74/Sock shop sign
76/Sign for knitting-yarn shop
78/Tailor's shop sign
79/Sign for a hemp thread and rope shop
80/Sign for a cotton shop
82/Pipeshop's sign
85/Felt shop sign
86/Brassware shop sign
88/Sign for a silver-bowl shop
89/Tinware shop sign
90/Bellows shop sign
92/Barrel shop sign
93/Steamer shop sign
94/Sign for hanging-mirror shops
95/Signs for glass-bead shops
96/Mat shop sign
97/Signjor leather shops
98/Sign for coarse-paper shops
99/Sign for oilcloth shops
100/Paint shop sign
102 / Blanket shop sign
103/Sign for an ox-horn workshop
104/Knife shop sign
106/Needle shop sign
108/Towel shop sign
109/Soap shop sign
110/Lantern shop sign
111/Lamp-wick shop sign
112/Candle shop sign
114/Drum shop sign
116/Sign for a musical instrument shop
118/Sign for a Chinese percussion instrument shop
119/Sign for ponytail-hair shops
120/Glaze workshop sign
121/Sign for soldiers' sword shop
122/Slingshot shop sign
124/Signs for official carriage shops
125/Sign for fodder shops
126/Sign for a horse-outfitting shop
128/Signs for leather-whip shops
129/Foundry sign
130/Gold shop sign
132/Sign for old-style Chinese private banks
134/Pawnshop sign
136/Chinese apothecary sign
139/Sign for medicated-alcohol shops
140/Signs for eye medication shops
142/Tobacconist's sign
144/Snuff shop sign
146/Midwife's sign
148/Barber's trade sign
149/Bathhouse sign
150/Inn sign
151/Shroud shop sign
152/Signjor a funeral-clothes shop
154/Pigment shop sign
156/Signs for picture-mounting shops
158/Artist's studio sign
