Decadal Time-Capsule & Three Gorges Dam Ephemera
Title: Journey Into China (1982 National Geographic Society Hardcover First Edition) — Featuring Rare 1997 The Washington Post Yangtze River Damming Full-Page Newspapers
A Tectonic Historical Time-Capsule:
This exceptionally curated volume represents much more than a standard coffee-table book; it functions as an elite 15-year geopolitical time capsule tracking the industrialization of modern China.
Tucked safely inside the text block are two highly collectible, complete original broadsheet pages from the Sunday, November 9, 1997 edition of The Washington Post. The front-page banner headline dynamically covers the controversial, historic "Spanning of Yangtze River in China's Huge Dam Project" (The Three Gorges Dam closing), paired with intricate cross-sectional engineering graphics and regional resettlement maps.
Description:
The 1982 foundation text—featuring a brilliant introductory essay by legendary Yale historian Jonathan Spence—captures China at a rare historical precipice during the very infancy of its post-Mao economic reforms. The photography showcases pristine cultural fragments, from the Uyghur bazaars in Kashgar to the street clothing markets of Kaifeng, and crucially, the ancient landscapes of the Yangtze Gorges before they were forever submerged by the reservoir detailed in the accompanying 1997 newspapers.
Boasting luxurious, multi-color Qing dynasty imperial dragon motifs on the inner endpapers, this unbroken set serves as a profound archival juxtaposition of vanishing old China and triumphant industrial modernization. A premier piece for institutional collections, engineering history buffs, or private libraries focusing on modern Asian studies.
時代變遷的「時空膠囊」文獻版
【品名】 美國國家地理學會《中國之行》1982年精裝第一版 —— 特別附贈：1997年《華盛頓郵報》長江三峽大壩截流原版整版剪報
【核心收藏價值與雙重歷史見證】
本品不僅是一本精美的地理圖冊，更是一個經由前藏家精心留存、橫跨15年時空的「中國地理與歷史變遷膠囊」：
1. 圖冊本體（1982年）： 記錄了八十年代初改革開放剛起步時，中國最純粹的風土人情。從喀什的維吾爾族手工匠人、尚未被旅遊開發的桂林灕江，到八十年代開封充滿人間煙火氣的馬路服裝市場。更有著名漢學大師史景遷（Jonathan Spence）親筆撰寫的歷史導言。
2. 珍稀歷史剪報（1997年）： 書中完好夾帶了 1997年11月9日（星期日）《華盛頓郵報》 的兩大整版原始報紙。頭條極具歷史震撼力，真實記錄了「長江三峽大壩正式合龍截流」的歷史時刻，並附有極細緻的工程結構圖。
書中1982年的照片展現了三峽古老而原始的壯麗峽谷，而1997年的剪報則宣告了這片土地即將迎來的滄桑巨變。這種完美的互注文獻在二手舊書界可遇不可求。圖冊帶有極考究的清代宮廷五彩龍紋織錦環襯，宣紙感內頁品相上乘，是一件極具觀賞性與地緣歷史反思價值的精品收藏。
