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Editor's note: GoKunming is publishing photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Yunnan at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1900 Subject: Wenchang Gong Location: Present-day intersection of Wenlin Jie and Jianshe Lu/Dongfeng Xi Lu Background: Today the intersection of Wenlin Jie and Jianshe Lu is bustling with buses, cars, bicycles, electric bikes and countless pedestrians. Most people passing through the intersection pay no mind to its northeast corner, a walled-off plot of land covered with advertisements for real estate developments. More than a century ago, the corner was still a major intersection, just within the city's main west gate (大西门). It was also quite a hub of activity with a Daoist (Taoist) temple at its heart. The temple was called Wenchang Gong (文昌宫). The photo above is of a miaohui (庙会), an annual temple festival. The Wenchang Gong miaohui was a special time for Kunming's women, who were normally restricted from going out in public as they pleased. The miaohui was an exception to this social norm. Below is a photo of long-demolished Wenchang Gong's location in modern Kunming – where women can leave home and go out as they please.
Related article: Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing Dynasty Tags: Auguste François, Daoism, old Kunming, Taoism, Wenchang Gong, Yin Xiaojun Zhuantang: Downtown Kunming's forgotten pierWednesday, 27th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Editor's note: GoKunming is publishing photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Yunnan at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1901 Subject: Zhuantang and Daguan Canal Location: Daguan Lu/Huancheng Xi Lu, Daguan Canal Background: More than two thousand years ago when people began to build settlements in the area now known as Kunming, Dianchi Lake was the main source of life and livelihood, providing water for humans, livestock and crops. Over time, it also became an important transport link between Kunming and other towns springing up around the lake. The city of Yuxi (玉溪), roughly 110 kilometers south of Kunming, was founded in 960. By the Yuan Dynasty, which was founded in the Thirteenth Century, trade between Kunming and Yuxi was flourishing. Lacking good roads and vehicles, traders in the two cities used sailboats to transport livestock and goods. Shipping goods between Kunming and the town of Jinning (晋宁) eliminated the need for slower horse carts for 40 of the 110 kilometers.
Water transport became increasingly important to Kunming, which undertook the major task of digging out the Daguan Canal (大观河) roughly 800 years ago. The canal extended Dianchi Lake's northern tip into what is now downtown Kunming, culminating in the pier known as Zhuantang (篆塘), which was located at the present-day intersection of Daguan Lu and Huancheng Xi Lu. Today, things are different as roads and automobiles have made Dianchi an outdated transport option. Zhuantang is but a small park, the Daguan Canal has fallen out of use, and Dianchi Lake is known for being one of China's most polluted lakes rather than a 'sparkling pearl' as it was once called. Tags: Auguste François, Daguan Canal, Jinning, Yin Xiaojun, Yuxi, Zhuantang
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: November, 1900 Subject: A young girl in Kunming Location: Unknown Background: During his stay in Kunming as French consul at the beginning of the last century, Auguste François was assigned a bodyguard team by the local Qing government. The head of his bodyguard team was a Kunming man with three young daughters. According to François' memoirs, he was especially fond of the youngest daughter, who is photographed here at the age of three, making her one of the first children to be photographed in Kunming. Due to her shyness and diminutive stature, François asked a bodyguard from his entourage to hold the girl up on a table. Not unlike many children today, the girl seems to not be enjoying getting her photo taken. Tags: Auguste François, Qing Dynasty, Yin Xiaojun Old Kunming: Beimen Jie and the tortoise tailWednesday, 30th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1900 Subject: North gate (beichengmen, 北城门) of Kunming's old city wall Location: Present-day Beimen Jie (北门街), just outside of Yunnan University's east gate, facing south Background: Built during the Ming Dynasty and demolished centuries later in 1952, Kunming's city wall is but a memory for those old enough to have seen it. For the rest of us, the wall lives on primarily in the form of street names. Qingnian Lu, or 'Youth Road', was named after the youth who were hired to demolish the massive edifice. The wall was indeed an impressive architectural feat – it stood 13 meters high and contained an area roughly equivalent to that surrounded today by the first ring road. The wall lives on today in more than just memory, even some laws and regulations are based upon the old wall. For example, sanlunche - the ubiquitous three-wheeled carts seen throughout Kunming and the rest of China – are not allowed to enter the area within the old city wall (chengnei, 城内) until after 6:00 pm. As with many Chinese cities, the ancient practice of geomancy known as fengshui played a major role in Kunming's initial layout, and the city wall was a major part of that. Below is a highly detailed map drawn by French Consul Auguste François in 1900.
In this map of Kunming within the wall, certain Kunming landmarks still standing today are visible – Cuihu (Green Lake) is situated in the northwest quadrant, the opposing gates of Jinma Biji Fang are located just north of the south gate and the Dade Temple twin pagodas are located in the northeast quadrant. With a little imagination, one can see the shape of a tortoise facing south – which is the idea behind the layout of Kunming and its wall. The photo at the top of this post is of the wall's north gate, which was supposed to be the tortoise's 'tail'. Situated between what is now Yuanxi Lu and Yunnan University's east gate, the area to the left (east) of the gate in the photo is Yuantong Shan, where Yuantong Temple and the Kunming Zoo are located today. To the right (west) is present-day Yunnan University. In 1900, the area outside of the north gate was much less pleasant than within the gate – the area primarily served as a dumping ground for garbage, as well as a burial ground. The image below is a photograph taken in July, 2008 by GoKunming – 108 years after François recorded the north gate. The north gate is gone, replaced by the Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Ensemble (云南省歌舞剧院). The only reminder that the imposing north gate once looked out from this hilltop is the name of the street - Beimen Jie, or 'North Gate Street'
Update: It turns out Kunming's old city wall is not 100% gone. There is a small, hard-to-find portion still standing behind the Yunnan University foreign students dormitory. Reader Xiefei comments: "There is actually one last segment of the wall still intact. It stretches along the back of the restaurants in wenhua xiang that abut the Yunda foreign students dorm. The wall can be seen from some of those dorm rooms, and was visible from the street a few years ago when many of those restaurants were rebuilt." We went behind the Yunda foreign students dorm today [July 31] and found what Xiefei was talking about, which definitely looked like an old city wall:
According to a security guard working nearby, it is indeed the old city wall. Thanks to Xiefei for pointing that out. Related articles: Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing Dynasty Yuantong Temple's secret colonial past Old Kunming: Eastern and Western Pagodas Tags: Auguste François, Green Lake Park, Ming Dynasty, old Kunming, Qing Dynasty, Ranbu Xiang, Wenlin Jie, Wu Sangui, Xima He, Yangyu Xiang, Yin Xiaojun, Yunnan Fu
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Yunnan at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1902 Subject: First graduating class of Kunming's Wubei Xuetang (武备学堂) Location: Present-day Jiangwutang (讲武堂), west side of Cuihu Park Background: The above photo is of 13 students from the first graduating class of the Wubei Xuetang (武备学堂), Kunming's first military academy, which was founded in 1899. The students, who completed three years of training, are centered around an unidentified teacher from the academy. By the end of the 19th Century, a little over a decade before the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Kunming had become more than just a place to exile disgraced officials, it had become a strategically important outpost at the crossroads of China, Tibet and Southeast Asia. Creating a strong local military force had become a necessity, prompting the establishment of the Wubei Xuetang on the west side of present-day Cuihu Park. The curriculum at the Wubei Xuetang featured four main subjects: Chinese language, mathematics, cannons and the military drill book (操典). The drill book used at the academy was a book of German military drills.
Within the Jiangwutang is a vast, flat courtyard that was once used for military drills. The building's south wing contains a free museum which narrates the role the academy has played in Kunming and Yunnan's history. Tags: Auguste François, Cuihu Park, Jiangwutang, military, old Kunming, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Wubei Xuetang, Yin Xiaojun Yunnan's ethnic minorities at the end of the Qing DynastyWednesday, 16th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (3)
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Yunnan at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1901-1902 Subject: Yunnan's ethnic minorities Location: Southern Yunnan Background: In addition to the time he spent as French consul in Kunming, Auguste François also spent time traveling in southern Yunnan, where France was building a railroad from Vietnam to Kunming. In the course of his travels, he had the opportunity to photograph some of Yunnan's smaller ethnic groups for the first time. Spending most of his time around the ruling Manchu of the Qing government and the majority Han, it seems that Yunnan's other ethnic groups piqued François' interest. The Yi slave The above photo is of an ethnic Yi (彝族) man. The man is a slave and a member of the White Yi (白彝) branch of the Yi people, who were not typically enslaved, unlike their unfortunate cousins the Black Yi (黑彝), who were considered a slave race. Note the man's Manchu-style braid. A Catholic girl in Honghe
The girl in the above photo was a resident of southern Yunnan's Honghe prefecture (红河州). François noted in his journal that the girl, who is believed to be from the Hani ethnic group (哈尼族), was Catholic – a result of French missionaries venturing into Yunnan in the 1860s. The Hani, who today are concentrated primarily between the Lancang and Yuan Rivers, share ancestral roots with the Yi. Today the French missionaries' legacy is still palpable in Yunnan, with several old churches dotting the province, plus thriving coffee and wine industries that owe their origins to beans and grapes introduced by the missionaries as they traveled the province. Miao girls in Mengzi
The above image is of three young women belonging to the Miao ethnic group (苗族), also known as Hmong. François took the photo while in Mengzi (蒙自) in southeastern Yunnan. This photo sticks out within François' photos of China for having a more anthropological feel. The Miao originally lived in southern China but eventually began migrating into the northern regions of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in the 1700s for political and economic reasons. The Miao that stayed in Yunnan moved up into the mountains as more Han Chinese moved into the region. This isolation led to cultural and linguistic fragmentation of the Miao. Tags: Auguste François, Catholic, coffee, ethnic minorities, Hani, Hmong, Honghe, Mengzi, Miao, missionaries, wine, Yi, Yin Xiaojun The White Pagoda: A young city's first sacrifice to trafficWednesday, 9th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1901 Subject: The White Pagoda (白塔, Baita) Location: Near the intersection of Baita Lu and Tuodong Lu Background: While much of present-day China was under the rule of the flourishing Tang Dynasty, Yunnan was part of the Nanzhao Kingdom (南诏), an upstart regional power whose territory at one point would stretch from Chengdu to northern Thailand and from northern Myanmar to Guizhou. Kunming first began to emerge as a major settlement – it was originally known as Tuodong (拓东) – more than a millennium ago, during the height of the Nanzhao's reign in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries. Based in Dali, the Nanzhao is known for its penchant for Pagodas, and it left its mark on Kunming with several structures, some of which are still standing, while others such as the White Pagoda (白塔, Baita) – succumbed to the pressures of urban development. The White Pagoda, highlighted in the above photograph by Auguste François taken in 1901, has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first important architectural structures in Kunming to be demolished to make way for increasing traffic. Back in 1901 there were no BMWs, SUVs or even QQs choking the streets – traffic tended to consist of pedestrians and the odd water buffalo cart. By 1913, the Nanzhao had been nonexistent for 1,000 years and Tuodong had been going by its new name of Kunming for only one year. Five years before, the city was officially opened to foreign trade as an inland treaty port – a development which led to its first period of rapid growth. Kunming was highly coveted by France, which had three years earlier completed a railway linking the city with the port of Haiphong in present-day Vietnam.
The image below is a photograph taken in May, 2008 by GoKunming – 107 years after François preserved the White Pagoda on film.
Related articles: Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing Dynasty Yuantong Temple's secret colonial past Construction of 'Turtle Back' throws Kunming traffic into chaos Tags: Auguste François, Baita Lu, demolition, history, Nanzhao Kingdom, old Kunming, Tang Dynasty, traffic, transportation, Tuodong, White Pagoda, Yin Xiaojun
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1902 Subject: Young woman in bridal attire Location: Uncertain, maybe at Wang Zhi's second son's tanghui Background: The woman in this photo by Auguste François is believed to be around 16 years old and is likely the fiancée of wealthy Kunming banker Wang Zhi's second son. Her facial features are in line with what was popular in that day – a round face, small mouth and single-edged eylids (单眼皮). Her eyebrows have been plucked – most likely by entwining them with string and then ripping the hairs out. A close look at her clothing elicits some interesting details. Her chest is covered with embroidered bats and her sleeves embroidered butterflies. In Chinese the character for fortune is 福, pronounced fú - both the bats and butterflies are symbols used in hope of bringing good fortune. 'Bat' in Chinese is bīanfú (蝙蝠), and butterfly is húdíe (蝴蝶), which pronounced in the Kunming dialect sounds like 'fúdíe'.
The bride-to-be's lower layer of clothing is typical of Guizhou nobility 100 years ago, suggesting that the marriage was arranged between two powerful families. Related articles: Kunming Opera: Where the men were men – and the women were men too Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing Dynasty Tags: Auguste François, marriage, old Kunming, Wang Zhi, Yin Xiaojun Next 1 2 |
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