Old photos from the late Qing Dynasty: Could it be that monkey entertainers, kneeling government officials, and happy family photos are all there?

Farmers working. This group of old photos taken more than 100 years ago record all kinds of social life in the late Qing Dynasty and are extremely precious. Through the fog of history, these images take us back to historical scenes and understand that era of poverty and backwardness.

Farmers herding sheep in the suburbs of Beijing. The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was a period of rapid development for countries around the world. Driven by the second scientific and technological revolution, new inventions and discoveries emerged one after another. However, due to the aggression of Western powers in the Qing Dynasty, the court lacked long-term vision and failed to implement reforms. Therefore, the entire society still showed a poor and backward appearance, with no aggressive momentum.

A street monkey artist. As early as the Tang Dynasty, the business of performing monkey tricks and entertaining passers-by has been around for a long time. At the same time, these artists often sell medicine for bruises and injuries. Currently, as the concept of animal protection becomes more and more popular, this type of animal performances are increasingly criticized.

The yamen servants in the yamen are kowtowing, probably accepting tasks assigned by their superiors. The couplet on the corridor column contains the four characters "Bei Que En Guang". "Bei Que" refers to the place where ministers wait for an audience or submit a letter to report, and refers to the imperial court; "En Guang" refers to the honor and favor from the emperor. ?Beique Enguang? means the emperor's grace.

The dark crowd all looked at the camera. The photographer was a foreigner, and the camera was a rare item, so it was expected that he would be surrounded by people. There is a common mentality in agricultural societies, that is, people just watch the excitement. People also tell their neighbors what they see, adding embellishments and jealousy in the process of telling, which distorts the facts.

Officials walked up the wooden stairs, possibly to the stage to attend an event.

The lively and crowded street may have been taken in the same scene as the previous photo.

A group photo of officials in the late Qing Dynasty. They were wearing official hats and patchwork uniforms, and they didn't look very energetic. The biggest problem for officials in the late Qing Dynasty was that corruption was rampant, they could not clearly grasp the general trend of world development, they lacked a sense of historical responsibility, and they failed to think about the common people in the world.