Text/Bureau of Knowledge of Everything
All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
In the late Qing Dynasty, the society was in turmoil and foreign forces were constantly invading, resulting in a special environment for a long time. The following old photos are all taken in the late Qing Dynasty, and from the photos, they always give people a feeling of gloomy and numbness, and there is no livelihood in society.
In the old society, there was a custom called "child bride".
In the late Qing Dynasty, the society was poor and backward, and the life of the common people was miserable, because many families gave birth to children and could not afford to raise them, they sold their young daughters to other families to be child daughters-in-law, that is, when the daughter-in-law grew up, and then had a round house with the man.
The above photo is a photo taken by a man and his child daughter-in-law, from the photo, this girl looks only in her teens, and the husband next to her feels much older than her, it is said that the girl in the photo came to her in-law's house from the age of four.
Child daughters-in-law generally play the role of servants in the in-law's family before they grow up, and even after they become adults, they are only regarded by the in-laws as a poor reproductive tool.
The couple in the above photo, judging from age, is probably only in their teens, and now the children in their teens are still coquettish in front of their parents and can't do any housework, but in the old society, children of this age have already got married, doesn't it sound a little ridiculous.
Judging from the photo, the bride looks full of sadness, and the husband seems to feel that he does not know what is happening or what it means to be married, so why was the age of marriage so young in ancient times? This may have something to do with the short life span of ancient people.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, opium entered China. At that time, the Qing government, top-down corruption, and because of the decline of national strength and military abandonment, also provided conditions for British aggression.
In the photo below, a woman is seriously addicted to drugs because of drug abuse, and she cannot afford to buy opium, so she can only sell her body to foreigners in order to have enough money for herself.
After all, opium is a drug, and the more she smokes it, the more she becomes addicted, so what she does is just a drop in the bucket.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the symbol of a wealthy man was to see if he could have a group of wives and concubines, and in the following photo, you can see a rich man sitting in a rickshaw with his wives and concubines, while their husbands are standing next to him, with his hands on his waist, his face full of pride.
In the old society, the destruction of women was not only the old system of child brides, but also the small feet, especially the three-inch golden lotus, which was a double damage to women's bodies and souls.
At a very young age, women are wrapped in layers of footcloths on their feet, perhaps because they are young and don't know what it means, but this kind of behavior will bring great pain to their growth, and even cause lifelong disabilities.
The following photo is a scene in the late Qing Dynasty palace, only to see a woman holding a little Baylor wandering in the back garden, and beside them, there are two red-crowned cranes, in the photo, the better dressed, should be a Fujin, and next to her, should be their maid.
The photo below is of an umbrella repairer, with an umbrella in his hand, repairing it, and when he saw a person with a camera taking pictures of him, he smiled politely at him.
Beside him, there are a lot of abandoned umbrella handles, in the late Qing Dynasty, the common people lived miserably, in order to survive, many people did what they could.
The photo below is a street talent performer who is performing sword swallowing, and beside him, there are many ordinary people who have come to watch. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were still more such talents, and if they performed well, these ordinary people would give a little money and be able to maintain their own lives.
In the late Qing Dynasty, those who were wealthy or from the palace would usually invite people from the opera troupe to perform for them, one for appreciation, and the other for killing time.
The following photo was taken when a troupe was performing, judging from the picture, they are all proficient in talents, some are playing flutes, drums, and some are beating suona.
At that time, some excellent troupes, business was still very hot, if there were big families to do a happy event, they would invite them to perform, although it was so, but their status was still quite low at that time.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the society was in turmoil, and the lives of the people were miserable, the following photo is a photo of a mother and six children, as you can see from the picture, the mother and the children did not have a decent dress, one of the children has not yet put on pants, and they are all skinny.
In old China, there was an idea that more children would be more blessed, and even if they were already poor, they still had to have children. The result can only be that the child is born, which makes the originally poor family even more poor, and their own life is not good, and the child is also tortured.
Here's a picture: A landlord's wife went out and was watched by the people around her.
As you can see from the picture, the clothes worn by the landlord's wife have a certain texture and no shabby feeling, and the surrounding onlookers are not only wearing cloth clothes, but also sewing and mending, and the landlord's wife passed by them, and their faces also showed envy for her.
The landlord's wife was oppressing the people at that time, and it can be seen from the picture that the landlord's wife still had a wooden stick in her hand when she passed by the poor man, and at this time, she may also be afraid of the robbery of these onlookers.
This seemingly very young girl is actually someone else's wife now, and if this matter is placed now, it is something that I can't even think about. She sat on a bed, looking ahead, as if wondering what her future was.
This girl is a child daughter-in-law, she came to her mother-in-law's house when she was very young, it seems that her mother-in-law thinks that she has grown up now and can have children for her mother-in-law's family, so the mother-in-law's family held a wedding for her and her son, and from the picture, the girl is only fourteen or fifteen years old at most.
In ancient times, there was a kind of Qinglou woman called a boat prostitute, that is, a prostitute who lived on a boat all year round.
In the old society, in areas such as Guangdong and Chaoshan, there were some residents who lived on the water for a long time, and these residents were called Tan people, and their adopted daughters generally ended up as boat prostitutes, so the status of boat prostitutes was quite low.
The photo below is of a beggar in the late Qing Dynasty, and since he has not cleaned his hair for a long time, it is no longer possible to tell whether it is a man or a woman.
As you can see from the photo, his clothes are worn, there is almost no way to cover his body, and there are no shoes on his feet. It can be said that in the late Qing Dynasty, it was really not easy for the poor to survive.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, foreign invasion and the incompetence of the Qing Dynasty government caused many ordinary people to suffer, but it was in such a period that China was smoking opium almost from top to bottom.
The Qing government initially suppressed opium, but later on, the Qing government legalized opium in China for its own benefit.
Originally, opium was planted on the land where crops were grown, and finally the whole country became the "slave" of opium, and China at this time was also called the "sick man of East Asia" by foreigners.
The photo below shows the streets of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty, where we can clearly see telephone poles and street lamps.
In 1881, a missionary in the United States received a generator and electric light device from the United States, and from then on, China slowly began to have electric lighting.
Later, about a few years later, in 1888, electric lights began to be used in large numbers in the Forbidden City, so it is not uncommon to see electric lights in some late Qing Dynasty photographs.
The photo below shows a group of prisoners about to be exiled, with a wooden plank weighing more than 10 pounds around their necks and heavy shackles on their feet.
Judging from the age of these prisoners, most of them are already middle-aged, and they are all skinny, and they don't know how big a crime they have committed, and they should be treated like this.
It is conceivable that if it is such a physical state, many people may have been tortured to death during their exile, even if they can sit down and rest, such a large plank, lying down, it is estimated that they will not be able to rest.
In the TV series, the costume dramas we see, for the needs of the plot, may not be presented in a real state, if we can combine the historical background of the late Qing Dynasty, plus, these real photos, we seem to have a general understanding of that era.
In the late Qing Dynasty, various peasant uprisings and invasions by foreign forces had brought the Qing government to the brink of collapse. From this period of history, we have also deeply reflected on the fact that only when our own country is strong can other countries not bully us, and in a country, national defense construction is very important.
On the one hand, these precious old photographs left in the late Qing Dynasty make us reflect, and on the other hand, these photos also play a positive and important role in studying the history and culture of this period. At the same time, we are also grateful that we live in a happy and peaceful country.