This was taken by Burns, a reporter for the American "Life" magazine, in Nanjing in November 1948. At that time, a group of Kuomintang soldiers were heading towards Shanghai along the railway. The situation was unpredictable. Half a year later, at nearly midnight on May 24, 1949, the Communist army entered Shanghai without any resistance.
949 is a turning year in Chinese history. In early December 1948, Cartier-Bresson flew to Peking as a special photojournalist for Life magazine and traveled to Shanghai, Nanjing and other places to shoot and report. The photographer Tata, who was not yet famous at the time, played the role of guide and translator in Beijing and Shanghai because of his acquaintance with Cartier-Bresson. Bresson raised his camera, and Tata also raised his camera—mostly to take photos of Bresson at work.
Cartier-Bresson published a photography collection "FROM ONE CHINA TO THE OTHER" in 1954. The title of the book was translated into Chinese as "From One China to Another China", which means "turning point". When he came to China again in 1958, it was the time of the "Great Leap Forward", which was also an important turning point.
Tata published a photo album "Shanghai 1949: the End of an Era" in 1989. The photos spanned from March to August 1949, which happened to span the period when the Communist Party occupied Shanghai (May 23).
China on the eve of the end of the civil war
Bresson (HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON, 1908-2004)
FROM ONE CHINA TO ANOTHER
Text | Lying high in the east mountain
Cartier-Bresson's photography collection "D'UNE CHINE A L'AUTRE" was first published in Paris in 1954. Two years later, the book was published in English for the first time in New York, titled "FROM ONE CHINA TO THE OTHER". It was a 16-volume hardcover with a linen cover and a dust jacket. It included 144 photos and had a preface written by Han Suyin compared to the French version.
In early December 1948, Bresson, as a special photojournalist for the famous "Life" magazine, flew from Yangon to Peiping. He stayed in Peiping for twelve days and flew to Shanghai before the People's Liberation Army encircled him. In his words, he was on the "last" flight. Judging from the time, I think he was referring to the last flight from Nanyuan Airport outside the city. Because from the siege of the city by the People's Liberation Army until the peaceful liberation of Peiping on January 31 of the following year, Kuomintang aircraft could still take off and land at the temporarily built Dongdan Airport. Such a panicked escape shows that when he first arrived in China, he was still full of doubts about the People's Liberation Army. The chaotic scene at the airport at that time can be imagined. This is also described very vividly in " Qi Rushan's Memoirs ".
About eight days before the retreat of the Kuomintang troops and the arrival of the People's Liberation Army, life in Peiping was peaceful. A street merchant was delighted to meet a friend who had just purchased a length of cotton fabric. Respect, kindness and peace - virtues that the Chinese are unwilling to abandon under any circumstances - are taking place on the eve of one of the most significant changes in China's long history.
Since then, he has been active in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, and once waved a white flag and tried to walk to the Shandong front line for interviews. In Nanjing, he witnessed the change of regime. Cartier-Bresson photographed the first tired People's Liberation Army soldier walking into Nanjing. What followed the soldier was not another soldier, but an old porter carrying a heavy load. He also photographed the troops sitting neatly on the roadside to rest, as well as the surprised, excited and doubtful expressions of onlookers facing them. He then went to Shanghai to record the social scene of this mixed city in the last few months before the founding of New China, including the crazy crowds, exciting parades and the new disciplined army. Finally, at the end of September, he boarded a ship bound for Hong Kong at the Shanghai pier.
In the short travel review written by Bresson himself, he did not express his views on either side of the regime, although he once claimed that he was a communist in his early years.I believe that he actually has a lot to say about this issue in his heart, and the reason why he doesn't say it is just to abide by one of his principles. These 144 photos make people feel that he is an impartial recorder, full of respect for the subjects, and the hand holding the camera never trembles due to excessive excitement. This rare and faithful restoration allows us to be transported back to that era calmly, without leaning to the left or to the right.
In April 1949, before the liberation of Nanjing and in the last days of the Kuomintang rule, the warlord Ma Hongkui came to Nanjing.
There are two photos of characters in the book, which vividly express the spiritual outlook of the two political forces of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party at this time. The pot-bellied warlord Ma Hongkui looks corrupt and listless, strikingly similar to many stereotyped images in revolutionary literature and art. The newly appointed mayor Chen Yi is smart, capable and full of vitality. In the caption of Ma Hongkui's photo, Bresson wrote: "Ma Hongkui's secretary is dressed like a nurse. He likes to eat ice cream, and has a few buckets ready at all times. Whenever there are guests, he will treat them to guests." The contrast in the images of the two people roughly reflected the basic impression of most people at that time on the old and new forces. One was in decline, while the other was rising. These two news photos placed together can solve our questions better than many eloquent and grand articles: Why has wealth, status and power changed hands in just a few years so unexpectedly?
He was also deeply impressed by the optimism and gentleness displayed by the Chinese people in the face of suffering. In the garbage mountains scattered across various cities, among the hordes of garbage-picking teams, a tired woman can still smile so brightly when facing the camera. Before the peaceful liberation of Peiping, the National Army conducted its last recruitment in the square of the Forbidden City. Three thousand people were selected from 10,000 applicants to form a brigade. Many of the applicants were laughing and chatting freely, as if they were going on a group trip. In Shanghai, in the crowded fleeing fleet on the Suzhou River, some shouted and argued, but no one fought. Someone told Bresson that in China, those who strike first are always ignored.
In December 1948, Peiping was surrounded by the People's Liberation Army outside the city. 10,000 new soldiers summoned by the Kuomintang stood in the courtyard of the palace waiting for orders.
Han Suyin’s preface clearly expressed her own position. Han Suyin's father is a railway expert in Sichuan, and her mother is from Belgium. The preface was written in 1956, when Han Suyin was in Beijing. As a well-known left-wing writer, she explained the reasons for the new regime's unstoppable victory by comparing all aspects of the new era and the old society, and tried to dispel some Westerners' prejudice against communism. In the comparison, she condensed two seemingly ordinary but most illustrative details: First, the new society is full of dense trees and green fields. Second, farmers working in the fields appear confident of a good harvest. And if you just look at their clothes, they all look like landlords in the old society.
In 1958, Cartier-Bresson, like many "good comrades" of New China, was invited to visit China again for three months. I don’t know how he feels this time. He still took a large number of photos, some of which were later criticized by China. However, he said: "The arranged photos have no vitality and are easily forgotten by people. If you are true to life, you can win."
I think these 144 photos are only a small part of the results of his first trip to China. Those works that have been eliminated for various reasons must still be in the world. Regardless of whether it is measured in terms of documentary value or artistic value, if it can be compiled and published, its brilliance should not be inferior to this book.
in Forbidden City , a loner, or a former official.
December 1948, Peking, polishing and processing of Burmese jadeite.
Bookshelf
December 1948, Peking, street antique shop.
In December 1948, Peiping, farmers who came to the city to sell vegetables were eating.
In December 1948, Peiping, a refugee mother and son were begging in the city.
In December 1948, Peiping, a bewildered old man was looking for his son among this group of recruits recruited by the Kuomintang.
From December 1948 to January 1949, there was a rush to buy gold in Shanghai. Due to the depreciation of banknotes, the Kuomintang decided that each person could exchange for 40 grams of gold. In December, news came out that thousands of people were waiting in line, and ten people died from crowding.
From December 1948 to January 1949, Shanghai, poor people tore open cotton bales on the dock. Many people starved or froze to death during the final winter of the Civil War.
1949, Shanghai. A group of children from a charity waiting to distribute rice. There they were educated and given minimal food. This school was established by Ms. Song Qingling, the widow of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
Shanghai, Nan-too Temple. The caretaker sleeps in the shadow of his idol.
A street vendor in Shanghai. He sells peanuts and Chinese cigarettes. These Chinese cigarettes sell well partly because they imitate foreign brands. Behind him is a bookstore. In the window of the bookstore are portraits of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen.
1949, Shanghai, coolies pushing carts across the bridge
December 1948 - January 1949, Shanghai, Shanghai was surrounded, Suzhou River transportation was completely interrupted.
December 1948 - January 1949, Shanghai, government officials waiting to leave the city.
Nanjing, long the capital of the Kuomintang, still has old city walls that are older than those of any other Chinese city. They survived many dynasties and peaceful peasant revolutions. Parts of the city walls can be seen here, reflected in the lake where the Ming Dynasty navy practiced in the 14th century. These people are gathering lotus roots for food.
In April 1949, Nanjing, an officer fled with his family's property. In the background were the temporary residences of thousands of civil war refugees.
A leaflet posted by students in Nanjing, April 1949, during the last days of Kuomintang rule.
In April 1949, Nanjing, the first batch of People's Liberation Army soldiers entered the city under the attention of the citizens. Since the People's Liberation Army's discipline requires not to take advantage of the masses, these soldiers carry all daily necessities on their backs.
In 1949, Shanghai, in a portrait shop.
949, Shanghai, roadside library
949, Shanghai, children greedy for reading small picture books
In June 1949, Shanghai, a rally, with portraits of leaders behind it. (The Communists captured Shanghai on May 27).
In June 1949, in Shanghai, to celebrate the liberation of the city, a portrait of the leader was hung on a tram.
August 1, 1949, Shanghai. A grand event was held to celebrate the troops' entry into Shanghai. A union representative holds an enlarged version of the new banknote.
August 1, 1949, Shanghai. Celebrating the Communist occupation of Shanghai. The text on the background banner reads: Chairman Mao Zedong.
1949, Shanghai. Students held an anti-black market "8.1" victory parade, and the team passed by the Bund.
On August 7, 1949, Shanghai, Chen Yi spoke at the victory celebration conference
949, Shanghai. "Promotion and Fortune" is being performed in a theater. In this scene, Chiang Kai-shek is furious with his wife's brother-in-law, a financier and former Kuomintang government finance minister Kong Xiangxi . The play was written when the Kuomintang was still in power, but the Communists rewrote the play to make it more satirical.
In 1949, Shanghai, a slogan read "Oppose bureaucratic capital, feudalism, and imperialism."
1949, Shanghai. Some Communist soldiers were accustomed to the giant billboards, but others were surprised.
September 1949, Shanghai. After the Kuomintang government evacuated Shanghai, it imposed a naval blockade on Shanghai. After five months of blockade, a US warship "Gordon" arrived at Shanghai Port, carrying foreigners to leave Shanghai.
1949, Hangzhou, a homeless man on the sidewalk.
1949, Hangzhou, homeless man on the sidewalk.
In 1949, Hong Kong, outside the " Chinese Business Daily " issue, two messages: South China was liberated, and the Political Consultative Conference was preparing to draft a new constitution.
1949, Hong Kong. A baby takes a nap on a shop counter while his father rests on a stool. The shop rents out mahjong games, and advertisements for "Baojian" cigarettes and "Champions" spark plugs are posted on the walls.
Burns (Jack Birns, 1919-2008)
Telling Quietly
Preface to "The Eve of the Civil War" (Excerpt)
Text | Jack Burns Birns)
China fifty years ago was really a difficult place to interview, especially when you were a foreigner who didn’t understand Chinese. The phone is very difficult to use. After finally dialing, you often can't hear what the other party is saying. Our communication with everyone must be through translators, who sometimes take it upon themselves to change the question asked and the answer given. No matter how well-educated or well-intentioned they may be, these translators have no idea what news is and how Americans respond to it. They also simply don’t understand the urgency of dealing with breaking news. But in any case, all these difficulties, the dangers I faced at all times, and the separation from my wife and my first son all gave way to the exhilaration and pleasure I got from compiling various news stories from the documentary materials I interviewed.
Most of the photos in this book are not part of the scope specified by me, and they have never been published. The editors of Life magazine discarded them and never explained why. As for me, my own purpose is just to objectively record a nation that has suffered from war and record their extremely difficult daily life. From the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 to the civil war in 1947, the people of this country have been tortured by war for nearly half a century. Yet these photos documenting daily life were deemed to have no news value. I am extremely upset that they were not published. But I know very well that it is impossible for the people in Rockefeller Center to have the same views as me in Shanghai. After all, this is their magazine, not mine.I just take my photos and they just make their choices.
In the on-site interview that Roy Rowan and I did, there was an incident about a group of miserable and tenacious poor people stealing cotton in the dock area along the river in Shanghai. This is a group of impoverished, uneducated refugees who fled to Shanghai from the suburbs to find work. I saw with my own eyes this group of people, about forty men, women and children, suddenly rushed onto a large cargo ship. It was loaded with cotton worth 20 million US dollars, which was a relief material donated to China by the United Nations to enable the poor in rural areas to wear clothes. People rushed to the ship desperately, tore open the packaging bags, madly snatched clusters of raw cotton, and then exchanged them with cotton dealers for copper plates. The government had no choice but to load the remaining cotton onto cars. In fact, only a small part of the relief supplies can be transported to the mainland. What we filmed was a stern-faced policeman arresting a peasant woman and searching the body of another young woman. Of course, photos like this do not reflect any political events, they just record some scenes of daily life, and magazines will not publish them.
A photojournalist cannot hope to express his sympathy when he is taking pictures. However, many similar tragic scenes are deeply engraved in my heart and will never be forgotten! I was filled with sadness when I was photographing a charity collecting children's bodies in hospitals and on the streets. Another time, I filmed a street execution. It made me feel not just angry and disgusted, but downright disgusting. Finally, the three executed men fell on the dirty dirt road, and the crowd of onlookers dispersed. At this time, Ron and I found a small bar, each ordered two glasses of double Scotch whiskey, and drank heavily. But it only made my stomach feel worse.
There are still times when I am in a state of fear. One experience was even more heart-wrenching. Talking about it makes people breathless. At 2:39 in the morning on May 17, 1949, that was the last moment of the U.S. military's retreat. I boarded one of the seven American cargo planes at Shanghai Longhua Military Airport. At that time, if the machine gunners of the Communist army had shot the pilot aircraft or directly onto the airport runway, there was no doubt that we would all be killed in a sea of fire. Fortunately, the "Reds" (the Reds) did not arrive in time with weapons. In the nick of time, our plane finally took off safely, but it was a gruesome way to leave China.
In a war, usually you can only report on one side of the opposing sides, but during those troubled days, frankly, I just felt deeply for the Chinese people. I did not realize at the time that my photographs of the Chinese Civil War would one day become a true record of a turning point in history.
Many of the photos have never been revealed, and I hope they can speak quietly to readers today.
In December 1947, a woman was drying her bedding outside a temporary shack on the Huangpu River.
In December 1947, a corpse collector was preparing to send a child's corpse to the temporary morgue.
In December 1947, a little boy was playing in the morgue where he lived.
January 1948, Shanghai World Entertainment Center.
In January 1948, homeless people slept on the streets in the biting cold wind.
In January 1948, the latest American periodicals were displayed at a roadside stall.
In January 1948, printed matter for sale hung on the roadside fence.
In January 1948, waitresses in the dance hall rushed into the Social Affairs Bureau to protest against the increase in employment fees.
In February 1948, this is the "prisoner of war" that the Kuomintang army showed us after winning the battle.
In February 1948, a soldier of the Kuomintang garrison was hanging the head of an enemy guerrilla leader named Ding on the wall. Several wild dogs were waiting eagerly in the distance.
In 1948, clothes and dried fish were dried outside the residence at No. 218 Anren Street.
In March 1948, the barge loaded with American cotton was moored in the dock area.
In March 1948, the police caught a woman and her daughter stealing cotton.
In April 1948, a blind woman begged in the same place every day.
In April 1948, a woman was feeding her child on the street.
In May 1948, cars and tricycles went their own way on both sides of the streets in the crowded commercial district.
In May 1948, on the Garden Bridge over the Suzhou River, a woman was chasing a moving car to beg.
In May 1948, a young girl and her mother set up an embroidery stall in an overseas Chinese residential area.
In May 1948, roadside vendors were selling live snakes and proprietary Chinese medicines.
In May 1948, a juggler performed a balancing act on a bamboo pole.
In June 1948, these were soldiers and armored vehicles dispatched to prevent students from Jiaotong University from participating in demonstrations.
In June 1948, college students held demonstrations to protest against the United States' economic aid to Japan.
In October 1948, soldiers retreating from "Manchuria" got their hair cut at a barber stall on the roadside of Huangpu.
In November 1948, an army servant who followed the team as they retreated from the northern battlefield was drinking water from his friend's water bottle.
In November 1948, a farmer tried to sell his chickens to a train carrying retreating troops, but failed.
In November 1948, a woman was holding her child and sitting in a truck compartment, wearing a military uniform donated to her.
In November 1948, an old lady was sweeping the platform, trying to collect scattered grains or coal dust.
A family on the run in March 1949.
In March 1949, the train at Shanghai North Railway Station was crowded with people fleeing the country.
In April 1949, as the war approached, the Chinese and Belarusian waitresses in the American-style bar also found that there were few customers and business was slow.
In April 1949, the foreign sailors who came ashore were bargaining with the rickshaw driver.
In April 1949, an armored vehicle was enforcing the curfew on the street outside the Broadway Tower Hotel, which was once home to the U.S. military assistance team to China.
In May 1949, crowds were watching the "prisoners" being paraded through the streets on convertibles.
In May 1949, a "prisoner" in Zhabei Park was being executed with a Colt automatic pistol.
In May 1949, a farmer fled to the city with all his belongings.
In May 1949, soldiers with live ammunition stopped farmers outside the city and prevented them from entering the city to sell things.
In May 1949, after the Communist Party captured Nanjing, foreign expatriates boarded the American ship President Wilson to evacuate Shanghai.
In November 1949, refugees carrying large and small bags of luggage crowded on the deck of a ship.This is a ship preparing to sail to Ningbo, China. It was originally a supply ship for the US Navy.
Picture right Sam Tata (1911-2005)
Sam Tata (Sam Tata), of Indian descent, was born in Shanghai in 1911 and lived in this Far Eastern city for the first half of his life. Became a photographer at the age of 25. In the early 1940s, he returned to India, where he met the famous French photographer Cartier-Bresson. In 1956, immigrated to Canada. Tata later became a famous reportage photographer and received many honors. However, before returning to Shanghai in mid-December 1948, he was still an unknown photographer. When one era passed quietly in front of him and another era rolled around, with the intuition of a photojournalist, he focused his camera on ordinary people in those turbulent times, such as refugees, beggars, children, street vendors, Kuomintang soldiers, political prisoners, workers and citizens marching, etc. 63 of these remaining photos were turned into the photo album "Shanghai 1949: the End of an" in 1989. Era" ("Shanghai 1949: The End of an Era"), the time span of the photos is from March to August 1949, which happens to span the period when the Communist Party occupied Shanghai (May 23).
In early December 1948, Cartier-Bresson flew to Peking as a special photojournalist for Life magazine, and later traveled to Shanghai, Nanjing and other places to shoot reports. Because of his acquaintance with Bresson, Tata played the role of guide and translator in Peking and Shanghai, just like in India. At the same time, he respected Bresson's photography very much. Tata took the initiative to avoid his subjects: Bresson raised his camera, and Tata also raised his camera - mostly to take photos of Bresson at work. If we compare the photos taken by Tata and Henry in Shanghai, we can see that in many cases, the two stood at the same place at the same time, and their photos often have similar scenes... The important thing is that Tata's shooting in Shanghai is completely independent of the influence of Bresson.
Photography critic Nan Wuai (Wang Baoguo) has a chapter in his book "Oriental Photography" devoted to Bresson's photography as he traveled between old and new China. Among them, there is a special discussion on comparing the photography of Tata and Bresson. In his opinion, if the photos of Bresson, Tata and Burns in Shanghai are put together, Tata's photos have the most folk flavor of Shanghai. I found some photos of Shanghai taken by Tata on the Internet. They were not very clear and were paired with actual photos taken from the original book.
In early May 1949, the Kuomintang sentry on the Bund.
In early May 1949, an enemy prisoner was shot to death.
In early May 1949, a "prisoner" considered to be a Communist was executed.
In early May 1949, there was a traffic jam on Sichuan Middle Road.
In early May 1949, people rushed to buy train tickets at travel agencies.
A refugee child.
Shanghai North Railway Station.
A wounded soldier of the Kuomintang.
A man who picked up loose rice.
A waif on the bank steps.
A peasant woman smoking a cigarette outside a boutique.
A vendor selling snacks in front of the cinema.
A small portrait shop, with portraits of Mao Zedong and Marshall (Marshall).
Lux Soap Advertisement.
Russian Orthodox nuns at the International Rescue Center .
A homeless man is eating.
A homeless man on the street.
is placed at a newsstand on the street.
Several children were reading at a bookstall that rented comic books .
An old woman sewing.
sells posters.
Street brawl.
women and children.
On May 24, Kuomintang soldiers fled Shanghai.
Chinese Communist troops entered Shanghai.
Propaganda: Communist Army vs. Kuomintang Army.
