Entitled: Auf Der Reise Zum Kloster Des Himmelsknaben Bei Ningpo (On The Journey To The Monastery Of The Celestial Boy Near Ningpo), Ningpo-Tíen Túng Sze (Tiantong Temple, 天童寺), Chekiang Province [c1906] Ernst Boerschmann [RESTORED]

People in the photo were using carring poles (also known as shoulder pole).

Ernst Boerschmann was a German architect detailed by the Kaiser's government to closely study Chinese architecture. In this endeavor he spent three years in China from 1906 - 1909, and returned with drawings and photographs, many of which were displayed in Berlin in the summer of 1912. In 1923, a compilation of this work was published in the form of a photographic book, entitled "Picturesque China - Architecture and Landscape - A Journey through Twelve Provinces." A copy of this rare book is held by the Toyo Bunko Archive in Japan, and digital copies of its pages can be accessed at the link here:

dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/creator/ernst_boerschmann.html.en

This photograph was found in Toyo Bunko's scan of the book, page 264.

• • • Sidebar *** Historically, old photographs that appeared in print were sometimes retouched before publication. This was necessary as less than visually optimal image areas (under or over exposed, or blurred) often needed pencil or brushed dyes and toner to "fill in" for missing details. This usually encompassed the adding of darker lines or lighter highlights in order to emphasis an outline; or to create faux details. Hence, depending on the skill of the retouch artist, some resulting images were either very good or shockingly poor. Unfortunately, several images from the book held by Toyo Bunko are afflicted with this sort of enhancement work, some more obvious than others.