They don't have as much confidence as French children -
Bresson
They don't have the same energy as American children.
Klein
They're not as mad as Japanese kids—
Moriyama Avenue
But they are closer to us!
Bruno Babé
In 150 years, time is changing, the environment is changing, the clothes are changing, the face is changing, and through these works, you will discover your own past, or the past of the past. This is a brief portrait of Chinese children, and it also witnesses the changes in Chinese society over the past 150 years.
150 Years of Portrait History of Chinese Children |1868-2020
Xu Chungang | Exclusive selection
(Fully revised)
Photography: John Thomson, Sidney David Gambo, George Silk, Robert Capa, Bresson, Mark Lubb, Bruno Barbey, Eve Arnold, Hiroji Kubota, Ryoji Akiyama, Thomas Hopke, Hou Bo, Xiaozhuang, Li Zhensheng, Weng Naiqiang, Zhang Zhaotang, Liu Xiangcheng, Hou Dengke, Zhu Xianmin, Zhao Liwen, Ren Shulin, Xie Hailong, Lu Nan, Yang Yankang, Zhang Qianqi, René Brie, Stephen McCurry, Patrick Chackman, Martin Parr, Alex Webber, Christopher Anderson......
John Thomson: Schoolchildren, China, 1868-1872
John Thomson: The Girl, China, 1868-1872
Chinese children studying in the United States, 1872
Trafficked Chinese children, Fuzhou, 1904
Sidney David Gambo: Hangzhou, private school student, 1917-1919
Robert Capa: Hankow, Hubei, 1938
Robert Capa: Hankow, Hubei, 1938
Robert Capa: 15-year-old Nationalist soldier, Hankou, Hubei, 1938
Robert Capa: Little Soldier, Hankow, Hubei, 1938
Robert Capa: Boy Scouts Parade Against the Japanese Invasion of China, 1938
Robert Capa: Little Soldier, Hankow, Hubei, 1938
George Silk: Famine, China, 1946
Bresson: Nanjing, Jiangsu, 1949
Bresson: Shanghai, children waiting for the distribution of rice, 1949
Bresson: Shanghai, children waiting for the distribution of rice, 1949
Mark Lu Bu: Three Sisters, Beijing, 1957
Bresson: Beijing, 1958
Bresson: Xinjiang, children paving roads under the supervision of their mothers, 1958
Hou Bo: Shaoshan, Hunan, 1959
Mark Lüb: China, 1959
Chang Chiu-tang: Taiwan, China, 1960
Chang Chiu-tang: Taiwan, China, 1963
Mark Lubb: China, 1965
Mark Lubb: China, 1965
Xiaozhuang: Hongjing Brigade, Shaxi Commune, Taicang County, Suzhou, Red Soldier Propaganda Team, propaganda on the field, 1966
Xiaozhuang: Red Little Soldier, 1966
Xiaozhuang: Fangshan Commune, Jiangning County, Nanjing, a monument built to grasp the class struggle, 1966
Xiaozhuang: Nanjing Primary School, Red Soldiers Choir singing quotation songs, 1967
Li Zhensheng: Five-year-old Kang Wenjie sang a red song for the representatives of the People's Liberation Army, 1968
Weng Naiqiang: Zhongdian, Yunnan, teenagers of the New Union Brigade read "Quotations of Chairman Mao", 1970
Mark Lüb: China, 1971
Bruno Barbey: Beijing, 1973
Bruno Barbey: China, 1973
Bruno Barbey: China, 1973
Bruno Barbey: China, 1973
Bruno Barbey: China, 1973
Bruno Barbey: Beijing, 1973
Xiaozhuang: Children in Nantong Municipal Kindergarten in Jiangsu Province perform the program "Criticizing Lin and Criticizing Kong", 1974
Chang Chiu-tang: Taiwan, China, 1975
Liu Xiangcheng: In Shanghai, a group of primary school students perform "Fight the Gang of Four", 1976
Hiroji Kubota: Shanghai, 1979
Eve Arnold: Chongqing, 1979
Eve Arnold: Wuhan, Hubei, 1979
Eve Arnold: The Child with Perms, 1979
Eve Arnold: Inner Mongolia, herders and their children, 1979
Eve Arnold: Maternity woman returning home from the hospital in a cart, 1979
Bruno Barbey: Shanghai, 1980
Bruno Barbey: Shanghai, 1980
Bruno Barbey: Shanghai, 1980
Bruno Barbey: Shanghai, 1980
Zhu Xianmin: People take food as the sky, Henan, 1980
Ryoji Akiyama: Kunming, 1982
Ryoji Akiyama: China, 1982
Ryoji Akiyama: China, 1982
Ryoji Akiyama: Kunming, 1982
Ryoji Akiyama: Chengdu, 1982
Hou Dengke: New Hat, Fengxiang Market, Shaanxi, 1983
Thomas Hopke: China, 1983
Stephen McCurry: The Book of Villains, Beijing, 1984
Thomas Hopke: China, Railway Station, 1984
Ren Shulin: middle school student, Beijing No. 171 Middle School Playground, 1984
Ren Shulin: middle school student, Beijing No. 171 Middle School Playground, 1984
Ren Shulin: middle school student, classroom of Beijing No. 171 Middle School, 1985
Ren Shulin: middle school student, at the gate of Beijing No. 171 Middle School, 1985
Zhao Liwen: Xi'an, Xinglongfang, 1985
Zhao Liwen: Xi'an, Three Bridges, 1985
Zhao Liwen: Xi'an, Sifu Street, 1989
René Brie: Shaoshan, Hunan, 1989
Xie Hailong: Zhangwan Primary School, Shuanghe Township, Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, Su Mingjuan, 1991
Hou Dengke: Linyi, Shandong, hopscotch, 1991
Xie Hailong: Zhouqijia Primary School, Qiliping Town, Hong'an County, Hubei Province, 1991
Mark Lu Bu: Shenzhen, 1993
Zhu Xianmin: The grandparents who came back from the market, 1996
Tian Ming: Accompanying Reader, 1997
Martin Parr: Shanghai, 1997
Lü Nan: Tibet, Shigatse, 2001
Lü Nan: Tibet, 2002
Harry Gruart: Guangdong, computer networks began to become widespread, 2002
Zhang Qianqi: Taiwan, China, SARS, 2003
Patrick Chachman: Shanghai, 2007
Yang Yankang: Four Little Monks Playing with Car Models, Sichuan, 2008
Wenchuan earthquake, a parent holding her son's posthumous photo on the rubble, 2008
In Li Bing Village, Luoshui Township, 108 students are buried on the hill, their tombstones are just bricks, no names, no avatars, only numbers, 2008
Martin Parr: Beijing, 2009
Li Huai'an: "Family Portrait" of Left-behind Children, 2012
Martin Parr: Hong Kong, China, 2013
Shen Qiying: China, 2013
Bruno Barbey: Pingyao, 2016
Suicide note, a 12-year-old girl writes her homework until 11 o'clock every night, sometimes can't finish it at night, and has to get up early the next day to continue writing, and finally chooses suicide under pressure, 2017
Alex Webb: Chongqing, 2017
Bruno Barbey: Shenzhen, 2017
Comparison of family planning policies in the past and present, 2018
Christopher Anderson: Shanghai, 2018
Ian Berry: Children Playing Games, Shenzhen, 2019
Bruno Barbey: Beijing, 2019
China News Service: Primary and secondary school students wear masks to return to school, 2020
The fate of the youth is the fate of the country
The future of children is the future of China