Old photos: Shanxi scenery in the late Qing Dynasty, why should we look at Taiyuan street view a hundred years ago?

Standing high in Taiyuan, overlooking the suburbs. During a period of about 1907, Sydney Smith and his wife worked and lived in Taiyuan. During this period, they traveled to many places in Shanxi Province and took a group of photos. We followed these precious video materials and went back to Shanxi in the late Qing Dynasty to have a look and feel the scenery of Sanjin in those days.

A street may also be in Taiyuan. From 1907 to the demise of the Qing Dynasty, Bao Ji and Ding Baoquan were the longest-serving governors in Shanxi. During his term of office, Bao Bang achieved fruitful results in implementing various new policies, such as setting up an advisory board, a judicial office, a procuratorial office, a survey and statistics bureau, cleaning up the financial bureau, and an official evaluation office. Ding Baoquan has also done some practical things, such as running a school, advocating smoking ban and foot massage.

Taiyuan Chengbei men Zhenyuan men. There are eight magnificent gates in the ancient city of Taiyuan, and Zhenyuan Gate has the most special position. What was the original name of this door? Zhen shuomen? As the name implies, it is to guard the north and directly point out its strategic and military functions. The deep rut on the road tells the vicissitudes of history.

Fields in Shanxi. Shanxi Province is located inland, with little rainfall and slightly dry climate. It can also be seen from this road that the floating soil is very thick and it is difficult to walk when it is windy and rainy.

Farmers who are ploughing the land. Cattle, donkeys, horses, camels and other livestock are important production and military materials, which are specially protected by the Qing laws and shall not be slaughtered or injured at will. For example, if you slaughter your own healthy horse and cow, the owner will post a hundred; Kill the donkey and the camel, and the master will beat him with a stick.

Carriages and mules carry sedan chairs. Carriage and mule-backed sedan chair are common means of transportation in northern China, but their comfort is completely different. The old carriage jolted badly because it had no shock absorber. Sitting for an hour or two makes people feel that their bones are falling apart. The sedan chair has no shortcomings in this respect, but it uses two animals and the cost is slightly higher.

Women and children. This is the image of ordinary women and children more than 0/00 years ago. Are they holding their own children or grandchildren?

The bulletin board is full of people watching. In the past, ordinary people accepted government announcements, mainly through bulletin boards (columns) on the streets. Those who can read in front of the bulletin board will read it out loud and tell it widely. At this moment, these people are looking at the camera, obviously curious about foreigners with cameras.

Carriage parking lot. There are so many carriages parked in the valley, which is really spectacular. People gather here, perhaps to go to the market, to see an opera or a temple fair. For a while, the parking space seemed a little tight, and those who were late had to park on the periphery. As soon as the party was over, the road was blocked in a mess.