The secrets of social life 100 years ago are revealed: the ancient forms in historical photographs attract attention
When we open the thick pages of history and walk through the past years one by one, we often regard those ancient pictures as vivid pictures, and those scenes that are understated in the history books are actually magnificent life stories.
These stories, hidden in ancient photographs, give us a glimpse of what life was like a hundred years ago. Photographs are like a kind of magic, which can freeze time, give us a sense of the style of that era, and understand those who were once alive.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a turtle man with a cigarette pouch in his hand carried a thin Qinglou woman on his shoulder. The Turtle Gong is not only a minion, but also a caretaker. The girl looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old, but there were countless grievances hidden between her eyebrows. Her origins are a mystery, but it is foreseeable that her future may be doomed to an early death.
In another photo, the wife of an executioner is sorting through unclaimed remains. There was a hint of a smile on the corner of her mouth, as if she had long been accustomed to life and death. For her, the horror in the eyes of the skull has become sparse and ordinary in her eyes. This is a time of brutal reality, where the lines between life and death are so blurred.
Travel back in time to the 1920s, and we come to the abandoned imperial dining room in the Forbidden City. Unlike the opulent scenes in the TV series, the walls are mottled and the tables and stools are covered with a thick layer of dust. This used to be the place where the emperor ate, but now it is deserted. Such a scene makes one wonder what kind of delicacies the emperors once tasted here.
The punishments of the Qing Dynasty were also surprisingly diverse. In one photo, a prisoner's head is stuck in a device called a "standing cage" and he has to move his hands and feet up to maintain his breathing. The guards next to him forbade anyone to deliver food, and the prisoners would not be able to eat any food, and eventually suffocate to death as their physical strength weakened. Such a punishment makes people lament the hardships of the life of the ancients.
The building repairs of that era were also quite ingenious. In one photo, workers are using pennies to build shelves, which look similar to modern construction methods. Because there are no tools to replace manpower, most of the building materials are pushed up from long slopes. Such scenes give us a sense of how the ancients did all kinds of work intelligently in the absence of modern technology.
Continuing to turn the pages of history, we come to the streets of Beiping in 1934. A steam roller made by the British is shown in the photo. This image makes people feel the strong collision of ancient and modern, as if the moment of the intersection of time. I didn't expect that in those days, there were already such modern rollers, the shape of which is very similar to today's machines. The people next to them stared at the massive mechanical monster with curiosity, showing a keen interest in the new technology. This picture is not only a witness to history, but also an imprint of scientific and technological progress.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a landowner and his concubine in a group photo. Although the landlord's skin was tanned, his body was burly, and his feet were full of confidence, the concubine's eyes were full of uneasiness. She looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, and probably had never seen anything as novel as a camera. At that time, people were still superstitious, and there were rumors that cameras could suck people's souls. Such social beliefs make people lament the strangeness and fear of new things in that era.
Back on the streets of Guangzhou 100 years ago, a little girl was dressed in full clothes and carrying a wooden drift on her back. At that time, children who could afford to wear full clothes were already in good family conditions. However, her family feared that she had accidentally drowned. Such worries are not unwarranted, because the fragility of life is deeply deplorable in the face of multiple threats such as disease, hunger, accidents and wars in an era when children are facing multiple threats.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, some people chose to run the rivers and lakes and become entertainers. They relied on martial arts and acrobatics to beg for food and lived at the bottom of society. The lives of these entertainers are not as majestic as they imagined, and their skinny figures and shirtless individuals show a hard and hard state of existence. Most of them can't get married, so they can only live a living by looking at people's faces. Their apprentices are even harder, most of them are children from poor families who can't support them, and they have to practice every day since they were young, and cooperate with their masters to do some dangerous actions. For them, dignity is insignificant, and a full meal is already a luxury.
Time flies, and natural disasters have also swept the south, causing a great famine. In one photo, a child is holding a family's rations, and Guanyin soil is smashed and mixed with rotten leaves to become food for the victims. Such scenes make people deeply feel the preciousness of food, and also make people feel more deeply about the affluent life of modern times. It is not an exaggeration to be revered as a saint for Grandpa Yuan's great achievements, and the waste of food was particularly shameful in that era.
In 1919, we came to Hangzhou, Zhejiang, where a mother fled with her child. The child was crying because of hunger, and the mother looked like an old man, with a sad face and wrinkles as deep as a knife, even though she was only in her thirties. Although she was ragged and precarious, she still held the child tightly, for that bite of food, for the hope of survival.
Turning the pages of history, we see a thin hunter, selling his gains. Although he lived by hunting, he was reluctant to eat meat, and most of the game he hunted was exchanged for necessities. This photograph gives a sense of the hardships of survival, even if you live in a rich natural environment, it still requires a lot of effort.
In this era, some people are doing quite well, and a rich daughter and her two maids have become the protagonists in the photo. Despite their young age, they have wrapped their little feet. This is a representative of a wealthy family, however, the tradition of small feet in that era makes people lament the physical and mental limitations of women.
This series of historical photographs gives us a deep sense of the diversity and existential challenges of society a hundred years ago. This is an era full of twists and turns, and every photo is a memory of time, recording the lives of those who have lived. In this colorful historical picture, we see pain, sorrow, and joy, and these emotions still touch our hearts in the long river of time. Scrolling back, we may be able to find more precious moments hidden in history.
Continued:
This series of historical photographs makes us feel as if we have traveled back in time and into the lives of people a hundred years ago. However, these images are not just cold records of history, but also pictures full of humanity, allowing us to deeply appreciate what the people of that era experienced.
As the thread of history continues to unfold, we see the scene of a mother fleeing the famine with her child. The child cries because of hunger, while the mother shows her tenacity and maternal side. She is obviously only in her thirties, but she looks old and sad because of the precipitation of the years. This photograph makes us think that the pressure of survival makes people mature over the years, and it also makes people feel more deeply about life.
Going back in time to the streets of Guangzhou, a little girl carried a wooden drift on her shoulder. In that time of poverty, the lives of the little ones were destined to be full of dangers, and the family's concern for her was palpable. The little girl's eyes revealed an unease about the future, a fear for survival that children often had to face in that era.
In this historical time tunnel, we see the artists who cross the rivers and lakes. They live a living from martial arts and acrobatics, but they live a hard life. This group of people at the bottom of society lives in poverty and oppression, and their apprentices spend their childhood in dangerous actions. Dignity has almost become a luxury for them, as long as they can fill their stomachs, it is already the greatest luxury.
In the photo, a rich daughter and her maids show a completely different picture. Despite living in an environment of material abundance, they were also bound by the ideas of the times, and the tradition of small feet became their physical imprint. This reflects the social constraints on women at the time, as well as the stark contrast between different social classes.
This series of historical photographs, like a history book without words, shows us how the people of that era spent their lives through the language of images. It was an era that was sometimes intense and sometimes calm and tranquil. In this process, everyone is trying to survive, writing stories of resilience and vitality in their own way.
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