The Painted Veil

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. The Painted Veil is set in the 1920s in British Colonial Hong Kong. What do you know about the British Empire? What were its dates? How did the British find themselves in Hong Kong, and what was their attitude to the Chinese people who lived there?

Teaching Suggestion: A general understanding of the British Empire and of British colonial activities in Hong Kong is essential to students’ engagement with the novel. Moreover, it is a good idea to prepare students for the novel’s depiction of British colonists’ racist and patronizing views of Chinese people. Setting up this perspective can help students engage with the text critically and develop strategies for approaching the potentially distressing contents of the novel. During this contextualizing discussion and investigation, students might also benefit from an introduction to the theme of The Subjugated Other.

• This website can be used to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the British Empire, including its crucial dates and geographical boundaries. 
• This weblink might be useful in showing students the geographical location and history of Hong Kong and in introducing them to the concept of British rule there.