The Oriental Library of St. Petersburg University has four albums of Chinese pictures, belonged to the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In the lower left corner of each picture there is a stamp with words as follows: "Zhou Peichun’s painting" or "Zhou Peichun from Beijing". These two seals could be used by Zhou Peichun or his followers.
Very few information about Zhou Peichun is available. He was a painter who lived in the second half of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. He had his own workshop in Beijing and produced pictures, describing Chinese life and culture. His pictures were very popular among foreigners.
The four albums stored in St.Petersburg University originally were in possession of professor Georgy Smykalov (1877-1955). After his death they were sold by his relatives to the University.
Smykalov's pictures can be divided into four thematic groups.
The pictures (they are 60) of the first group describe daily life scenes of Beijing dwellers. Each one is annotated. They provide invaluable information for the modern anthropology and ethnology experts, as they depict different spheres of life of Chinese people.
The 20 pictures of the second group show typical inhabitants of Beijing. Each one is looking like a portrait of a single person. Each has a brief title and do not contain any comment.
The third kind of pictures is the pictures of shop signboards or labels. Only 17 pictures of this category contain 92 signs and 83 shop names.
The pictures of the fourth kind are 20 portraits of Chinese legendary ladies.
Although Zhou Peichun was not an eminent painter, he still was an important cultural figure or historian. His realistic pictures not only could serve as photos but also promoted the traditional Chinese history and culture.