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 long river of history, the photographs are like mirrors, silently reflecting the style and humanity of the past era, the late Qing Dynasty, a critical period when China's feudal society gradually collapsed and the pace of modernization faltered.
Its social changes and people's livelihood have been frozen in the yellowed old photos, and have become an indispensable window for future generations to peek into that era.
The father holding the child, observing the father's face, his age is probably not more than seventeen years old, in the feudal society, the legal age for marriage between men and women is very early, men can get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen, women are even earlier, this is because the average life expectancy at that time is very low, but premature childbirth is also very harmful to women's bodies.
The family of missionaries in China, the man in the photo is very famous, named Timothy Lee, he is a China expert, he has been in China for a long time with his wife and children, and it seems that they have integrated into Chinese customs.
The street vendor, the frame in front of him seemed to be filled with a kind of fruit, a bit like a cherry and a bit like longan, the vendor put his hand to his mouth, shouting to the street, in front of a little boy leaning on the pillar, looking at the fruit in front of him.
Han women in the late Qing Dynasty, why are they Han women, you see that her foot on the stool has been deformed, in the Qing Dynasty, only Han women are forced to bind their feet, those Manchu nobles do not have to suffer this kind of pain, for example, you see the Qing palace drama, the ladies wear flower pot shoes, not "three-inch golden lotus"
The young mother with the child in her arms, sleeping soundly, while the mother looked full of vicissitudes, and her face even had dust left that she had not had time to wipe off.
The rich lady in the late Qing Dynasty, of course, was still in her juvenile form, the little girl's headdress was very special, and there were bits and pieces of tassels hanging down on her forehead, and then looking at her two wrists, they were all with thick silver circles, and there was no doubt that she was a rich family.
The actor of the troupe, this is a kind of opera performance in the northwest, in the photo, a bald actor with a white face kneels in front, and a character with a black gauze hat stands solemnly behind him.
A man in the Qing Dynasty who wore glasses, at that time, those who wore glasses were not ordinary people, the man squatted in the vast desert, holding a cigarette in his hand, his expression was calm and contained infinite information, looking very much like a scholar who studied the culture of the northwest border river.
This kind of thing is called sheepskin raft, is a unique intangible cultural heritage technology in the northwest, the so-called sheepskin raft, as the name suggests, is a boat made of animal skin, generally this kind of boat is relatively strong, buoyant is very strong.
A huge windmill, I don't know what it is for, generally speaking, the windmill is used for agricultural irrigation water conservancy projects, under the windmill is a loess village built, a few people wandering on the loess road.
Residents by the water, you can see that there are many men and women holding big frames on the riverside mountain, some are washing clothes, some are washing others, looking at the high and long steps behind them, you can judge that this place is basically in Chongqing, and there are many such long stairs in Chongqing.
The coastal city in the late Qing Dynasty, it may be Shanghai, it may be Guangzhou, in short, it seems to be a prosperous place, in the northern inland or tiled houses everywhere, when the loess paved the road, the high-rise buildings have been built here, the asphalt road has been paved, there are many cars coming and going on the road, and the people who are either rich or noble are doing it inside.
Also in the south somewhere by the river, many women carry a big backpack, which contains a family's dirty clothes, come back to the river to wash clothes, it can be seen that the scenery here is quite beautiful, especially the arch bridge on the river, very designed, really embodies the wisdom of ancient Chinese craftsmen.
A huge camel stone carving, look at the place should be in the cemetery of a prince and nobleman in the north, after all, this is a vast prairie, there is a Qing Dynasty man standing in front of the camel stone carving, in fact, this man is also tall, but standing in front of the stone sculpture still looks so small.
A canyon in the north, the photo captures an extremely poetic picture, the Gobi, mountains and rocks, so that here adds some desolate and vast atmosphere, temples, mist, and add some ethereal and romantic, a donkey and a person in front of the picture, is the finishing touch, like a ranger who breaks into the camera.
Three busy workers As soon as they saw the pig's head in the basin in the photo, it must be a pig killing shop, the man on the left chopped pork stuffing on the board, and the one in the back was also cleaning the pig's internal organs.
Some of the craftsmen who perform musical instruments, they are all half-grown children in their teens and twenties, and the youngest is even only six or seven years old, sitting on the ground and looking at the camera in ignorance, and the young boy sitting on the far right in the photo seems to have vitiligo, and his skin is showing symptoms of albinism.
Mahjong ladies and ladies, girls at this time, but all the families who are a little rich, will begin to receive a new education, go to a girls' school, and the girls who have received new knowledge will gradually awaken and begin to pursue women's freedom, so they will begin to cut their hair short and wear a new cheongsam, which should be the case with a girl with short hair.
On the top of the towering mountain, some monks are praying to the sea of clouds This is the golden summit of Mount Emei in the late Qing Dynasty, which seems to be more like a fairyland than today, with a sea of ethereal clouds in the distance, presumably, anyone will feel calm and tranquil here.
A topless man, it can be seen that he should have been born in a not very good family, and his long-term poverty is that he can't take in enough nutrients, so his already thin chest ribs are clearly visible, but this person looks different, because of his posture and his eyes, you can see that this is a person who is not willing to accept the status quo and is full of perseverance.
The family of three who fled the famine looked very sad, especially the mother and the sister standing on the side, who may have seen the camera and strangers, and they wanted to show a smile, but so many days of displacement and hunger made them really unable to laugh, and finally they could only show such a crying and laughing expression.
Wanrong wearing the queen's court dress, Wanrong is the wife of the last emperor Puyi, the couple can only say that they have some strange experiences, Wanrong is young and beautiful, but in the end she became crazy because of Puyi's cold treatment, and even began to take drugs, cheat, and was pregnant with a guard's child.
Portrait photo of a noble lady in the late Qing Dynasty, this photo is rare and clear, the woman in the photo looks very feudal era of the temperament of the lady in charge, her appearance is graceful and luxurious, her expression is steady and calm, the rich people's food is good, so they look round and jade, compared with the poor are very different.
The old man who set up a stall to sell food, a little boy as tall as a cart stood aside, trying to stand on tiptoe to smell their fragrance, and the little girl in the cheongsam next to him looked like his sister, she also looked very longing, but she was more restrained than the boy.
In the shaving shop on the street, the shaver stands behind the customers and works happily, and the customers in front of him who want to get a haircut look very unkempt, but in the Qing Dynasty, when everyone had to shave half of their heads, he allowed his hair to grow.
The shop on the side of the street, looking at the signboard next to it, is written with the words "letter metabolism", and you can quickly understand that this is a business that specializes in writing letters for others, and in that era, the high illiteracy rate is terrifying, and those who can read and write are already considered intellectuals, so the existence of this industry is not unexpected.
The rich man sitting on the cart, I don't know why, the good carriage doesn't sit, and he wants to make this kind of funny cart, especially in the photo, the man drives very well at a glance at life, a picture of a big belly, and the servant behind him, not to mention, is also weak, I really don't know how to push it?
The lively street scene, at the door of the alley, there are people selling sugarcane, at that time, selling sugarcane must not be so thoughtful as we are today, and there are people peeling and cutting into small sections, look at the side, several women leaning against the wall to pull homely things, there are men and women in and out of the alley.
Although this photo is not very clear, it can be seen that such a swaggering travel team, except for the late Qing Dynasty "famous" Empress Dowager Cixi Lafayette, there is no one else, the perspective of this photo is also quite strange, as if it was taken lying on the beam, of course, Cixi did not get angry after finding out, but waved her hand scroll in greeting.
It is said that this is the only photo of Emperor Guangxu, although it is very blurry, but it is not surprising that the person in the circle is Guangxu, he just walked out of the sedan chair, and he did not notice the candid photograph at all.
A few men standing by the wall with their hands in their hands, I don't know if the weather is too cold, their unified posture is to hold their hands and hug their chests, and at the same time, this posture also makes these people look cringe, a listless appearance, and the national temperament at that time is basically like this.
The officials who are judging the case have to say that it is really a great official authority, and the people can only grovel in front of them, shouting one by one, the officials at that time were completely for the service of the ruling class, and did not care about the people at all.
Old photographs of the late Qing Dynasty are the whispers of time and the testimony of history, which not only allow us to observe the style of that era up close, but more importantly, they remind us to remember history and learn from it.
In this era of rapid change, looking back on the late Qing Dynasty is not only to remember the past, but also to wake up to the future and inspire us to stay true to our original aspirations and forge ahead in the new historical journey.
The old photos of the late Qing Dynasty are like a long scroll of history to be continued, waiting for everyone to interpret them with their hearts, to discover the stories hidden behind the light and shadow, and to feel the unique temperature and color of that era.