Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the direct subordinates have been the most important places in Gyeonggi and have received special attention from the emperor. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the establishment of zhili provinces remained unchanged until 1928, when it was changed to Hebei Province. Through a set of old photographs, we understand the life of Zhili Province in 1913, the second year after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Photographer: Frank Nicholas Meyer.
Street view of Changli Santunying.
After Yuan Shikai became the (provisional) president, he tried his best to firmly control the provinces directly under his command and appointed his own confidants as governors and civil administrators. In September 1912, Feng Guozhang was appointed as the governor and civil administrator of the province directly under the direct subordination, which many people opposed, and Yuan Shikai strongly stated that this appointment would never be changed.
Crossing the street, the building has collapsed.
At the beginning of Feng Guozhang's tenure, the society directly under the direct subordination was still "the people of the direct people are withering, and the overall situation is not even", and he has implemented some policies to improve people's livelihood, such as promoting silver dollars, advocating mining, banning opium, protecting forests, and assessing local officials. By the time he left office in December 1913, these measures had some success. What Yuan Shikai valued most was that Feng Guozhang attacked the revolutionary forces directly under his command and consolidated the Beiyang party's control over direct subordination.
Farmers make their own fertilizer.
In an era when chemical fertilizers were not yet widespread, farmers mainly made the fertilizer needed to grow crops by themselves. They mix weeds, manure, soil, grass and wood ash, etc., stir them and pile them up for a certain period of time, which becomes soil fertilizer rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other elements.
Firewood Market.
People need fuel for heating and cooking in their daily lives, and coal cannot afford to buy, so they have to use firewood and grass, thus forming a special market. Farmers cut down twigs and beat them into bundles and picked them up to sell at the town's firewood market. In the photo, the streets are lined with bundles of tree branches, which shows that the demand is relatively strong.
Dry the noodles.
The noodles are made from mung bean noodles and have just been machine-processed. I thought that the noodles of that era were all hand-rolled noodles, but I didn't expect that there were processing machines. Of course, this kind of machine should be a human-driven, wooden rudimentary device, which is not a concept with the current electric machine.
Stalls selling vermicelli.
Northerners like to eat noodles, and pork stew noodles are a widely spread home-cooked dish. Vermicelli processing in China has a history of more than 1,000 years, made of sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. as raw materials, after cooking the taste is smooth, very elastic.
Farmers beat wheat.
A couple is playing wheat while two children play by the side. The tool they use to beat the wheat is called chain shackles, which consists of a long handle and a tapping rod, a bit like a double-knuckle stick, swinging the long handle, the tapping rod rotates around the shaft, and the crops are tapped for threshing. This method of threshing was once popular in the north and south of the river.
Cherries from Xiaowutai Mountain in Wei County.
Xiaowutai Mountain is the main peak of the Taihang Mountains, with an altitude of 2882 meters above sea level, and there are 1350 species of plants growing on the mountain, and wild cherries are one of the common varieties. This cherry is small and edible.
Peaceful little mountain village.
Relying on mountains to eat mountains and rely on water to draft water, villagers have obtained resources from the mountains for generations to multiply, houses are made of stones, and small roads are paved with stones, all of which are local materials. This path leads to the main peak and temple of Jingzhong Mountain.
Peaceful village.
Some people were scavenging on the path, women were washing clothes by the creek, and the houses in the middle view were relatively intact. The pace of people's lives is slow, but they also continue the traditional way, and do not flow into the torrent of modernization.