[CHINA][陸徵祥 Lù Zhēngxiáng or LOU TSENG-TSIANG, BECOME DOM PIERRE-CÉLESTIN LOU ]-The hot springs of Gangshan or Tangshan north of Beijing. Album of photographs. 190 x 150 mm, album folding in accordion, under black percaline cover (traces of humidity on the boards).25 photos pasted on cardboard, 100 x 140 mm and 2 loose photos 110 x 162 mm pasted on cardboard (very fragile cardboard, 2 folds split).EXCEPTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENT COMPOSED BY LOU TSENG-TSIANG, opening with this notice "This album is, as you will see, double-sided and contains the views of Gangshan, a very hot thermal spring located in a park that belonged to the Imperial Family. Since the establishment of the Republic the place is open to the public and is at 2 hours of car from Beijing. We made a cure of 2 weeks there and lived in the villa of the President of the House of Representatives. Two photos show Lou Tseng Tsiang surrounded by Lilly, his adopted daughter and an American girlfriend of the latter; the album contains various photos of villas or pavilions housing high Chinese dignitaries such as the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Communications, the Prime Minister), a photo of the pavilion of the imperial family as well as various photos of the baths, bridges or lake of the lotuses.Lou Tseng-Tsiang (Shanghai, China, 1871 - Saint Andrew's Abbey, Bruges, Belgium, 1946), whose surname means "auspicious", was born into a Christian family steeped in Confucianism. After studying at the interpreting school of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Peking, he was appointed interpreter at the Chinese legation in Saint Petersburg in 1892. It was in Russia that he met Berthe Bovy, daughter of a liaison officer at the Belgian embassy and a French teacher, whom he married in 1899. It was also at this time that he met the Chinese ambassador Xu Jingcheng (Jiaxing, China, 1845 - Peking, China, 1900) who motivated him to convert to Catholicism. Afterwards, he held various positions, including that of ambassador to The Hague, before being recalled to Peking when the emperor abdicated in 1912. During his mission in The Hague, he met Albert I of Belgium, with whom he became friends. Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1912, he was given an extraordinary mission to Brussels in 1914. In December 1915, he was appointed Prime Minister of China, but he only held this position for a few months, as he was at odds with President Yuan Shikai. In 1922, he was appointed ambassador to Bern and hoped to cure the asthma problems of his wife, who died in 1926. In October 1927, he joined the Benedictine community of Saint Andrew and became Dom Pierre-Célestin Lou at his ordination in 1935. Pius XII appointed him as Father at St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent in 1946. He received many visits from famous people, including Hergé, who wrote about him in "The Blue Lotus".