The Hexi corridor in the movie "Hidden in the Dust" is also the hometown 丨月 that I filmed, and it is my hometown Ming
December 2018, Jiayuguan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
In Gansu, people habitually use the Yellow River as the dividing line – east of the Yellow River is called Hedong, and west of the Yellow River is called Hexi. In history, Hexi has a more famous name - Hexi Corridor.
The city of Jiayuguan, where I was born, is just above the Hexi corridor. Since 2018, I have tried to start with my own experience, along the Hexi corridor, and gradually answer "Who am I?" Where am I from? Where am I going". Through photography, I hope to complete the answer to these three ultimate questions through the observation of my hometown and the Hexi corridor.
December 2018, Jiayuguan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
October 2021, Dunhuang, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, 2019 (Zhang Jie/Photo)
March 2022, Jiuquan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
The Hexi corridor stretches from Wusheng Ridge in the east to Yumen Pass in the west, on the northern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the Nanshan mountain system bordering the Qilian Mountains and the Altun Mountains, and in the north is the Mamanshan-Helishan-Longshou Mountain barrier that blocks the vast Tengger Desert and the Badain Jaran Desert. During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wudi of Han set up Wuwei County, Zhangye County, Jiuquan County, and Dunhuang County in the Hexi Corridor, known as the "Four Counties of Hexi", and the administrative scope roughly included Wuwei City, Jinchang City, Zhangye City, Jiuquan City, Jiayuguan City in the western part of Gansu Province, and the Alashan League in the western part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It was the throat of the entire Silk Road and an important route for trade and cultural exchanges between East and West.
October 2019, Guazhou, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
April 2021, Yumen, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
October 2021, Guazhou, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
August 2018, Jingtieshan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
November 2020, Jiuquan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
The Tang Dynasty astronomer Monk and his party said that the Qilian Mountains-Hexi corridor is close to the range of the "Northern Commandment", which is used to defend and "limit Rong Di". The Hexi Corridor-Tianshan area is not only located in the north-south boundary of the extension of the Great Wall, but also serves as the east-west passage from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. It is not only a separation zone separating the nomads of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau, but also a transitional belt between the "Hexi granary" farming area in Gansu and the nomadic area of Qinghai. So it is not a line, but a "crossroads" where north and south and east and west cross each other. Historically, on a larger scale, the Central Plains Empire and nomads confronted, interacted, and constructed each other around elastic borders, forming a "dual system of agriculture and pastoralism".
March 2022, Jiayuguan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
October 2019, Gaotai, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
March 2020, Jinchang, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
The Hexi corridor I photographed is in such an area with a unique objective geographical location and a particularly important historical geographical status, so the Hexi under the lens is not only the geography of reality, but also the geography with historical participation and influence. I don't want to simply express stereotypes like the desolation and vastness of northwest China, I just photograph the abstract and psychedelic landscapes or parts I see, and the people who make me feel close. Some of them feel out of place with the environment, and some of them are timely.
October 2020, Shandan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
April 2022, Changma, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
May 2020, Jiuquan Yumen (Zhang Jie/Photo)
January 2020, Jiuquan, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
I have never forgotten the original intention for taking these photographs: to record a very important geographical area on the Silk Road in Chinese history, my hometown, the Hexi Corridor.
May 2020, Guazhou, Gansu Province (Zhang Jie/Photo)
(Jiayuguan) Zhang Jietu, Zhang Bi, Zhang Jiewen
Responsible editor: Feng Fei