China has a history of 5,000 years and many dynasties. But the most impressive dynasty in people's minds is the Qing Dynasty, which was the last feudal dynasty and the closest dynasty to people. Most Chinese learn about the culture, costumes, and history of that dynasty through tv movies and TV series. In the minds of Chinese, most of the men of the Qing Dynasty had long braids on their bald heads, while women were wrapped in small feet and some wore flag suits. The concubines of the Qing Dynasty that people see in the history books are all very beautifully dressed, but the people are not beautiful.
When people think that Qing Dynasty figures are ugly, a French photographer took photos of Qing Dynasty figures by restoring those photos to subvert people's perception of Qing dynasty people. At that time, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a photographer from France took some exquisite photos with his camera, and people could know the true situation of the people in the late Qing Dynasty a hundred years later. What about the Great Qing in his photo? It's actually different from what people see on TV.
What is the name of this French photographer? His name was Albert Kahn, and his profession was not as a photographer, but as a banker. In the late Qing Dynasty, he came to China. In the decades in China, he took hundreds of thousands of photos, many of which were stereoscopic.
At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi, who covered the sky with one hand, had died, and the last emperor Puyi was reigning at this time. Kahn traveled throughout China, passing through many provinces, and recorded the real scenes of people's lives in the late Qing Dynasty with photos. Those photographs are also the earliest photographs of Chinese history, and these photos provide information for later generations to study the history of the late Qing Dynasty.
But in the end, he had to leave China for economic reasons and return to his hometown. At that time, Kahn's behavior was obviously not understood by the world, and he was teased like a fool by others. Finally, in 1940, impoverished, he died, leaving only some pictures that seemed useless to the world.
In the 21st century, as museums in France published Kahn's photographic collections at the time, the pictures he took finally entered the public eye again. This time, people really realized that the foresight with which he took these pictures was finally famous.
Chinese impression of Manchu women in the late Qing Dynasty is still mostly stuck in the ugly images in the history books. But in fact, it is not, the photos preserved in China are one-sided, so what does the real Manchu woman look like? In fact, they are not only beautiful in appearance, but also very luxuriously dressed. Although the society of the late Qing Dynasty was relatively turbulent, the life of aristocratic Manchu women was still very rich. Not only do they eat well, but they are also very well dressed.
The Late Qing Manchus were not as stereotypical and boring as people thought, and their photos reflected the beauty of oriental characters more. Manchu women still have an aesthetic, and their clothing is mostly simple and beautiful. The restored photographs show that the life of the rich in the late Qing Dynasty was not bad, and that the frugality was often only a large number of toiling poor people.
In fact, at that time, the gap between the rich and the poor was still very large, and most ordinary people could not make ends meet their lives and dressed inappropriately. You can see from the photos what kind of life they live, most people have no shoes to wear, and eating a full meal is often just a luxury. Ragged clothes and a sluggish state are the true portrayal of the people.
Having taken many photographs of the Qing Dynasty, what was the French photographer really trying to express? He actually wanted to present the lives of people in the late Qing Dynasty through his own photos. He has been to many places, taking photos of people of different classes, and hoping that future generations can understand the real life of people at that time through photos.
Photographs are sometimes a reflection of history, like the ones he took. Unlike the films and television works that people have seen and beautified, the real aristocrats live better, while the poor live more sloppily. Many people want to understand history and character costumes through watching film and television dramas, which is not advisable, and the reality is often more cruel.
People today can know what life was like at that time, and thanks to this great French photographer. He did everything he could to take the most realistic and cruel photos of that era, and also let people know how miserable the lives of the people under the social unrest were.
Those photos tell too much historical stories, and when the photos he took are once again published, they are also a wake-up call for people now. Looking at the dress, diet and clothing of those people, the numbness of those people when facing the camera, is also backward in the old social concept and the government is corrupt.
After looking at the photos, people finally learned what kind of faces and what kind of clothes the Manchu women had. I also learned what kind of life the people lived at that time, and how their clothing was different from that of the nobles. Through those photos, people should cherish their lives now and remember the history. You know, if the country is not strong, what kind of life people will live. Only people in peacetime can have a good life, so we must cherish the present and remember history.