We understand history, mainly relying on written records and important cultural relics. Since the introduction of photography to China in the late Qing Dynasty, we have a new dimension in our understanding of history, and many historical details have been passed on to future generations more realistically and delicately. Xiaobian sorted out a group of old photos to understand the social life and humanistic outlook of the last 30 years of the Qing Dynasty.
A prisoner who has been punished, dying.
This kind of torture was generally invented by local officials, which was not stipulated in the Great Qing Laws and Regulations, and was an extrajudicial punishment. What it brings to prisoners is an incomparably painful physical torture, perhaps even tortured to death.
Technicians holding a Madsen light machine gun.
In 1904, the Danish army was officially equipped with the Madsen light machine gun, which triggered many countries to purchase it because of its good performance, and the Qing army also imported a batch. Not only that, in 1908, the Guangdong Ordnance General Factory began to imitate the Madsen light machine gun, which was called "light machine fast gun" at that time, and there were also imitations in the Kaifeng Arsenal and other places, but the number of these imitations was not too large.
Archives of Jiang Jinshou, a young eunuch of Changchun Palace.
This simple file contains a wealth of information, not only with a large head photo of Jiang Jinshou, but also with his place of duty, place of origin, rank and age, and a depositary document for the management of eunuchs by the Ministry of Internal Affairs' subordinate agency. The "little eunuch" is equivalent to the "title" in the eunuch team, and the status is lower, under which only the "scattered eunuch" is one level lower.
The craftsman who repairs the umbrella.
In the past, people mostly used oil-paper umbrellas (lint paper impregnated with tung oil), which will be damaged after a long time. But it doesn't matter, whether in the city or in the countryside, you can see the figure of the umbrella repairer. Passing through their dexterous hands, an umbrella as complete as new will appear before your eyes.
The five cities of the Beijing Division practiced bravery.
The Qing Dynasty Beijing Division set up the Five Cities Inspection Court, with the Five Cities Imperial History as the chief, responsible for the administration of public security, the trial of lawsuits, and the arrest of thieves in the five cities of the central, eastern, western, southern and northern cities. These exercises in the photo are similar to the early forms of the police. However, their queue is loose and weak.
The examination shed and Mingyuan Building of Chengdu Gongyuan.
Chengdu Gongyuan is the place of township examinations, and the number of examination houses reached 13,935 when tongzhi was in Tongzhi. Candidates answer questions in the examination booths on the left and right (in the order of "thousand words" listed), and the examiners climb the Mingyuan Building to look out, condescending, monitoring the examination room, and beingware of cheating. According to records, in the 240 years from 1665 to 1905, the Chengdu Gongyuan held a total of 152 examinations, and 786 people were selected in the examination.
Kong Xiangxi, who is about 30 years old.
Kong Xiangxi was born in 1880 in Taigu County, Shanxi Province, to a family of merchants and Confucians, and was the seventy-fifth generation grandson of Confucius. In his early years, he entered the new school and later studied at Yale University. Looking at his personal resume, he did not take the imperial examination, was not a Qing Dynasty courtier, why did he wear a civilian official's supplementary clothes? At that time, the imperial court granted returned students the title of Jinshi or Juren, and his official clothes were likely derived from this. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he gradually became prominent and became one of the "Four Great Families".
Old Beijing Dongbianmen.
Located at the junction of the inner and outer cities and the southeast end of the outer city walls, the Dongbian Gate is small in scale and relatively remote.
Father and son group photo.
The clothes of the father and son are intricate and fancy, which belongs to the unusual style, and also reflects the relatively superior economic conditions of the family from the side.
Group photo of children and teenagers.
The arrangement of this shooting scene is very in line with the personality characteristics of teenagers. The third girl on the left is slightly older, holding a flower basket, and first showing her gentle and virtuous temperament; some of the other children are riding wooden horses and some are stepping on toy dogs, all of which are in the stage of mischief.