原作者：
来源Rare Photographs of China in the 1800s
译者单冬梅
Photo: Herbert G. Ponting
照片提供：赫伯特 G. 庞丁
This image of course shows The Great Wall of China, a fortification that was begun in the 5th century B.C. and completed in the 17th. The part we see these days was built during the Ming Dynasty, as the oldest parts have essentially disappeared and been rebuilt, replacing the original material of rammed earth. It now stretches 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi), with approximately 2,232 km of that natural barriers such as hills and rivers.
这张照片当然是中国的长城，始建于5世纪完成于17世纪的军事防御工事。我们今天看到的部分建于明代，因为最古老的部分实际上已经不存在了。现在的部分是在原址上重建的，取代了原来的夯土材料。现在长城长8,8851.8千米，其中约2232千米是像山丘、河流的天然屏障。
Timeless as this structure may seem, China today is a bustling modern nation, one whose cities have every modern convenience. Despite its political differences with the West, it has risen to become a leading world nation and is poised to become the biggest economic power on earth. But back in the 1800s life was very different from the world of high speed trains, communications technology and McDonalds outlets in major cities. Join us for a look at scenes from the 19th century that show a different China to the one we now know.
这个建筑物看起来好像是永恒的，中国现在是一个繁荣的现代化国家，有许多拥有现代化设备的大都市。尽管她的政治状态与西方国家不同，但是她仍上升成了世界的领导国，并且随时准备成为世界上最大的经济强国。但是回到19世纪，生活远远不同于现在有着高速火车、通信技术和麦当劳销售点的大城市的生活。和我们一起看一看19世纪的中国展示给我们的不一样的景象吧！
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片提供： 拉尔夫 雷普
The Qing courts of the 19th century would often mete out punishment using Bastinade – the whipping, flogging or paddling of a convict – or would sometimes use the measure to get a confession. This image is stark in its brutality but was the reality of the time. Stretched over a punishment rack, his hands tied down and feet held, the prisoner was beaten. It has been said that some were flogged to death this way.
19世纪的清宫常常用棍棒给与惩罚鞭打犯人，有时甚至用这种方法使犯人招认。这张照片虽然很残忍，但是当时的真实写照。犯人被拉到受刑台上，手被捆在下面，脚被摁住，接受鞭打。据说有些甚至被打死。
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片提供：拉尔夫 雷普
Zhan Shi Chai traveled the world as Chang the Chinese Giant, leaving China with a wife (some biographies suggest she was just a stage wife) who died in 1871. Zhan later married an English girl and had two children, settling in her native country. He retired in 1878, and kept a Chinese tea house and a Chinese goods store until his death in 1893. Zhan’s height was advertised as being over 8 feet, but unfortunately there are no historical records confirming this, apart from his coffin, which was 8 feet 6 inches long.
作为“中国第一长人”的詹世钗，在中国留下了一个妻子（一些传记表明她只是未婚妻1871年去世）。詹世钗之后娶了个英国女子并有两个孩子，最终在英国定居。他1878年退隐，开了家中国茶室和仓库，1893年去世。詹的身高据报道超过8英尺，但是不幸的是没有史料记载证明这一点，除了他的长8英尺6英寸的棺材。
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片来源：拉尔夫 雷普
Artillerymen did not have it easy, in China nor anywhere else. The men in this photo were mercenaries supplied by the British, and as you can see, they had to pull their cannons and large shot artillery by hand, rather like beasts of burden. It clearly took more than one man to move the cannons, which not only put a large number of men out of action, but meant changing positions as needed was an ordeal that might get them killed .
炮兵不是什么好活，在中国或世界任何地方都是。照片中的这些人是英国提供的雇佣兵，像你看到的一样，他们不得不像骡马一样自己用手拉着大炮。很显然要很多人才能拉动大炮，这不仅使大批的人无法工作而且意味着根据需要改换姿势是一种可能治他们于死地的严酷的考验。
Photo: John Thomson
照片来源：约翰 汤姆森
Hairstyles at the time had a number of assists including tubes and other hardware, as can be seen in this image. The Tartar woman doesn’t look very happy – perhaps due to what looks like a painful hairdo! John Thomson was a very well-known photographer and this was likely a model of his.
当时的发型要有许多辅助工具包括管子和其他的金属制品，就像你看的照片上一样。这个鞑靼女人看起来不高兴——可能因为这个看上去痛苦的发型的原因吧。约翰 汤姆森是一个知名摄影师，这个人可能是他的模特吧。
Photo: Afong Lai
图片来源：阿方 莱
Posing for a formal photograph, these women all carried fans, as ubiquitous then as purses are for women today. One interesting point to note is how all are dressed alike with the same pulled back hairstyle, very regimented. In the 1800s photographs were new and exciting, and people appeared very formal in them. Smiling was rare in family or studio portraits both in Asia and Europe.
在正式拍照前摆好姿势。这些妇女都拿着扇子，这是当时普遍存在的物品就像现在女人的钱包一样。注意到一个有趣的现象了吗？这些人的打扮都一样，都往后梳着同样的发髻。在19世纪，照片是新鲜事物，人们在拍照时表现得很正式。在家庭照或影楼人物相片中很少见到微笑，这一点在亚洲和欧洲都一样。
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片来源：拉尔夫 雷普
每个人都了解一点可怕的全家福照片：大家围坐一圈，试图摆一个看起来很自然的姿势。但是在19世纪，人们甚至都不尝试让这个气氛更逼真。像大家看到的一样，这些家具被摆放成半圆。照片中可以找到一些人们生活方式的线索。比如，这家有四个妻子。还有木质脚蹬能使脚离开冰冷的地面，当时是在富裕家庭才能出现的物品，你还可以看到小男孩不喜欢像今天这样在镜头前安静地坐着。
Everyone knows about those dreaded family portraits where everyone sits around and tries to look as if their pose is natural, but in the 1800s they didn’t even attempt to make the situation lifelike; instead the furniture was set out in a semicircle as seen here. A few clues to the people’s lifestyle can be found in the photograph. It looks like four wives are in the family, for example. The wooden footstools were used in affluent families of the time to keep feet off cold floors, and you can see that little boys didn’t like sitting still for photographs any more then than they do today!
Photo: William H. Jackson
照片来源：威廉姆 H. 杰克森
Peking (Beijing) was the walled city of the Tartars, and you can see the long, seemingly endless wall heading away from the fortress. Almost pulled down in the 1960s to make way for a second ring road around the modern day city, a large portion in fact escaped destruction. It was then ignored until 2002, when a decision was made to rebuild this historical architectural treasure from the Ming Dynasty. The 1.5 km section now encloses an open park.
鞑靼人的北京城是一个围城。你可以看到长长的好像没有尽头的城墙延伸到远方的丛林里。大约在20世纪60年代，为了在现代化的新城外围再铺一条环形公路，老城墙被推倒了，事实上大部分还是躲过了浩劫。之后它一直被忽略直到2002年，政府决定重建明朝的历史建筑，它才被人们想起。这段1500米的城墙现在包围着一个开放的公园。
Photo: Frank & Frances Carpenter
照片来源：弗兰克和弗朗西斯 卡朋特
As seen in this image, many Chinese laborers worked in South African gold mines along with black and white laborers. Chinese workers had left their homeland in droves due to famine and social and political unrest, spreading their culture around the world – while taking on some of the toughest jobs!
就像这幅照片展示的一样，许多中国人和黑人白人劳工一起在南非金矿里工作。因为饥荒和社会政局动荡，中国劳工不得不成群结队得背井离乡。他们承担起最艰苦的工作，同时也把中国文化传播到世界各地。
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片来源：拉尔夫 雷普
Here we see Chinese Viceroy Li Hung Chang and US President Ulysses S. Grant meeting in China 1879 at the end of Grant’s second term, while Grant was on his world tour to drum up support for a third one. Grant lost the nomination however. Richard Nixon was the first sitting president to visit China, but as we see here, certainly not the first president of all time.
这幅照片中我们看到中国总督李鸿章和美国总统尤利西斯 S.格兰特在1879年格兰特第二个任期的结束时两人的会面，当时格兰特正周游世界竭力争取自己第三个任期的支持。然而，格兰特没有获得提名。理查德 尼克松是第一个在位期间访问中国的美国总统，但是，我们也看到了，不是有史以来的第一个。
Photo: William H. Jackson
照片来源：威廉姆 H. 杰克森
A lovely temple in a quiet forest for those who wished for a special place in which to commune with their God. Probably looked after by a just a few monks, it fits in with its surroundings perfectly.
一个可爱的寺庙坐落在一个安静的森林里。这是为虔诚的教徒准备的地方，在这里他们希望认真地与他们的神交流。它可能仅有几个僧侣来看护,却与其所处的环境非常完美地融合了。
Photo: RH Brown
照片来源：RH 布朗
Venice is not the only city to have canals as its streets; the Chinese city of Canton also contained a labyrinth of such waterways in the 1800s. The fortress-like building, background center, is a typical Chinese pawn shop, according to the Flickr user Repo Man. As you can see, just as in any canal city, most visits to shops took place on boats – and in fact there are vendors who sell from boats, as we see below.
威尼斯不是唯一以运河为街道的城市，中国广东在19世纪也有许多这种水路迷宫。根据网络像簿的使用者雷普曼的看法，这栋背景的中心堡垒式的建筑是典型的中国当铺。如你所见，像在任何水乡一样，大部分去商店的交通工具是船，而且事实上船上也有小商贩在卖东西。看到图片下方了吗？
Photo: Emil Rusfeldt
照片来源：埃米尔 拉斯菲尔德
These ornately carved and decorated vessels were called “flower boats”, and were essentially floating brothels. In the Memoirs of Robert Dollar, 1918, the author revealed the terrible danger of lashing together hundreds of boats: “A few days before our arrival in Canton there had been a disastrous fire in what are called the “Flower Boats,” which are used as places of ill repute. There are a great number of them made fast in rows about fifty feet apart, extending out into the water about two hundred feet. The boats are broadside on the shore and each row is made fast, side by side, the whole secured by chains and anchored at the outer side to keep them in position. A lamp exploded in one of them near the shore and the fire speedily spread. first along the shore then out, so that the inmates had the choice of being burned or drowned. It was reported that six hundred girls and two hundred men lost their lives, but the bodies recovered exceeded one thousand. Strange to say. the police prevented any one going to the rescue and the victims died like rats in a trap. No place in the world has as many boats as Canton.”
这种雕刻华丽装饰花哨的船叫“花船”，实际上是水上妓院。在1918年的罗伯特 大莱回忆录里，作者描述了将几百条船捆在一起的可怕：“在我们抵达广州的几天前，“花船”（指名声不好的地方）上起了大火。这些船被紧紧地绑在一起，中间仅隔50英尺，占据大约200英尺的水面。船横靠在岸边，每条船都并排紧紧地绑在一起，链条穿起每条船保证安全，在外侧把锚放下固定它们的位置。其中一条靠岸的船上的油灯爆炸，火势迅速蔓延。一开始沿着岸边，然后向着水面去了，里面的居民别无选择只能被烧死或者条船而淹死。据报道，600个少女和200个男人丧生，但是烧伤的超过1000人。说来奇怪，衙役阻止任何人实施救援，受害者像掉入陷阱的老鼠只有死路一条。世界上没有一个地方像广东这样有那么多的船。”
Photo: Sarat Chandra Das
照片来源：萨拉特 钱德拉 达斯
Next, a lovely Tibetan Princess in ceremonial dress, with an ornate headdress that looks quite heavy. One point we find curious in this photo from 1879 is the sash tied around the outside of the girl’s arms. Did it suggest that as a princess she would have everything done for her and have no need to have her arms free?
接下来是一位可爱的西藏公主身着节日盛装，头戴华丽的发饰。看上去很重哦！我们在这张1879年的照片里看到有趣的一点，腰带在女孩的胳膊上缠了一圈。这是不是说作为一个公主她什么都不用做，也就没有必要使用胳膊了？
Photo: CR Hager
照片来源：CR 海格
An incredible image showing some of the first lighthouses on the Pearl River. There is one clearly in the center and also another on the far right, but not too far away. It thus seems that here they were used rather as street lamps, to show hazards – not way out to sea but for traditional “driving” of boats on the river. From the photo restorer’s page: “One has to remember that during those days, there really weren’t any lights at night unless one provided it, and lights on the river itself delineating hazardous landmarks probably saved many vessels from smashing themselves against the various rocks or land features that were apparent in a winding river system.” A perilous period.
一张难以置信的照片展示了珠江沿岸的第一组灯塔。照片中心可以清楚的看见一个，在右边不远处还有一个。好像它们被用作路灯来驱走暗夜的危险——不是在大海深处，而是为河上的船夫。在照片修订页我们看到了：“你必须记住，那时候晚上真的没有一点亮光，除非有人提供。河上的灯光能照亮危险的地方，可能挽救许多船舶免于撞上各种礁石或在蜿蜒的河道中躲避不及而粉碎。”那时真是个危险的时期啊！
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片来源：拉尔夫 雷普
How times have changed! This is an examination hall with 7,500 exam “cells” where the applicants ate, slept, drank and took the exam over several days. These actually gave everyone an opportunity to get a government job or to teach if they did not do as well. Cheating was alive and well back then, so a scribe copied everyone’s answers to reduce its occurrence – and depending on the year, cheating could be punishable by death!
时过境迁，沧海桑田。这是一个考试大厅，里面有7500个考试单元。考试期间，考生吃喝拉撒睡以及考试都在里面。考试实际上给每个人提供一个得到政府职位的机会，即使考得不好也可以当个教书先生。作弊当时也很盛行，所以有抄写员抄下每个人的答案减少来这种事情的发生。有些年份，作弊甚至会处以死刑！
Photo: Ralph Repo
照片来源：拉尔夫 雷普
This stunning beauty’s portrait was taken in Cholon, a part of Chochinchina, and now known as the southern part of Vietnam. In the late 1800s, it was under French control. The beauty of the girl’s face is matched only by the incredible richness of her dress. She was in fact an actress with a Chinese theatre troupe.
这张精致的美人照片是在华埠（现在的越南南部城市）照的。在19世纪末，它在法国控制之下。女孩漂亮的脸蛋也只有身上的华服才能衬托出。但是实际上她只是戏班子里的一个演员。
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