Capturing a frame of mind
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Beijing native Liu Huizhong's family members are shown in this group photo from the 1930s. Dramatic social changes eventually tore apart the family, which once owned a two-story teahouse near Di'anmen in downtown Beijing. Old photos courtesy of Bi Chunping |
While discolored photos in family albums have inspired contemporary artists such as oil painter Zhang Xiaogang and conceptual photographers like Zheng Guogu or Wang Jinsong, an exhibition at Peking University reveals the true colors of family snapshots.
The exhibition features photographs of former staff that worked with, or fought battles with, Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai and Ren Bishi, and cultural icons.
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In 1934, Chinese scholar and Harvard graduate Li Xiaomin heralded a practice which would come to be known later as "micro-credit". |
In addition there are poignant photos from the family albums of ordinary Chinese people, organizers say.
The photos are accompanied by short essays, or captions, that are written by the providers.
"These photos are from different eras and various locations, from people of all sorts of political, economic, social and ethnical backgrounds," says Bi Chunping, a key organizer, adding that the oldest photo dates back to 1898.
Exhibition organizers spent over two years finding and selecting some 1,000 old photos from at least 10,000 Chinese families across the country.
Since the mid-1990s, many books about old photos, including family photos, have rolled off the print presses in China. The most famous was Vintage Photos, a mook (magazine-book) from Shandong Pictorial Press, 1996.
Bi, however, says this collection is special because it is the first time so many family photos have been gathered for a public viewing.
"Most of these precious photos have only been circulated among family members."
Wheelchair-bound Zhai Jingqin, 84, was accompanied by her daughter-in-law Yao Yan when she viewed the exhibition last week.
"Life is like a dream for me," she says, gazing at her youthful portrait taken in the 1930s.
Zhang Shuying, 93, came from Jixian county, in Tianjin, to see the show, along with her younger son Zhang Xuezhe.
Her recollection of those days in the late 1930s is vivid and she remembers when Bao Sen, a military leader of the Eighth Route Army, stayed in her home, at the foot of Panshan Mountain.
"I was born 1915. It was a new society as Sun Yat-Sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty and gave people, including women, more freedom," Zhang says.
"I, like some other female characters featured in the old photos had a modern hairstyle and clothes and was free from the painful foot-binding, a common practice in Chinese feudal society."
"A century at a glance. That's what I call the family photo show," says Zhao Yuping, a retired military officer who has provided photos of his father Zhao Pinsan, a revolutionary who once worked with the late Chinese military commander-in-chief Zhu De.
"Most of the photos capture just fragments, trivial, and insignificant moments of the past century; yet, behind them are heart-warming or heart-wrenching stories of ordinary people," Zhao says.
The family photo exhibition "may give viewers a strong impression that Chinese people attach great importance to their family. The family bond seems much stronger than similar relations in Western society," notes Hu Jun, vice-dean of the Philosophy Department of Peking University, a co-organizer of the exhibition.
"Looking at these photos, I feel a strong, long-respected, commonly cherished, cultural tradition," Hu says.
It runs until Jan 26 in Beijing, before touring other Chinese cities.
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Left: It is an old family photo of Chen Zengkun, a professor with Academy of Traditional Chinese Performing Arts. Under the guidance of his father Chen Zhongying (middle), Chen has devoted his life to Peking Opera. This photo, taken in 1910, features Chen Zengkun's uncle Chen Boying (first from left), Chen's father, and his grandfather Chen Yingyu. Right: Zhai Jingqin (inset) took this photo in the 1930s. Sitting in a wheelchair, Zhai arrives with her family to a photo exhibition at Peking University. She was born in 1924 in Acheng, Heilongjiang province. The daughter of a rich businessman, she is the youngest of six children. She now lives in Beijing. Lu Zhongqiu |
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In 1953, Ming Mujiang (center) was born into a worker's family in Beijing. At 16, he traveled to rural Heilongjiang province, answering late Chinese leader Mao Zedong's call for young people to learn from farmers. In 1974, Ming fell in love with one of his comrades, Li Guiying. Due to the rigid political climate during the "cultural revolution", Ming and Li did not announce their engagement. Instead, they took this photo with an unnamed, smiling comrade to mask their connection. The pair eventually married in Beijing in the early 1980s. |
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Left: In 1950, Hu Yunjing (lower row, second from right) helped design a national emblem. It was endorsed by a panel headed by late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and was unveiled on June 20, 1950 at the first General Assembly of the People's Political Consultative Conference. Right: Xi Xiaobo is one of the top four Peking Opera laosheng actors. The other three are Ma Lianliang, Tan Fuying and Yang Baosen. Beginning his training at age 11, Xi spent his life developing a unique acting and singing style later called the Xi School of Peking Opera Art. Xi took this photo in Qingdao in 1964. The photo was later presented to his student Ouyang Zhongshi who offered it up for the exhibition. |
(China Daily 01/18/2008 page18)
