The camera was invented in 1843 and was not introduced to China until 1846. In the 1840s, it was in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty in our country. It is precisely because of the appearance of cameras that we can see the real life status of the Qing Dynasty people from ma

camera was invented in 1843 and was not introduced to China until 1846. In the 1840s, it was in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty in my country.

It is precisely because of the appearance of the camera that we can glimpse the real life status of the people of the Qing Dynasty from many old photos taken a hundred years ago.

There are poor people of the Qing Dynasty with thin bones and empty eyes, loving couples with happiness on their faces, and Qing Dynasty men caught urinating in the corner.

Marriage status of husband and wife in the Qing Dynasty

Ancient feudal society was a typical society where men and women were superior to women . There was no love at all in the marriage between men and women.

What is marriage? In that social context, marriage is just a means for people to continue their descendants, and women are just tools of childbirth.

The freedom of marriage between men and women is seriously bound, and married women are even required to obey their husbands unconditionally.

So in the picture below, we see this Qing Dynasty couple, who were wearing wedding clothes, but the woman had no expression on her face and just sat on one side to cooperate with everything that was happening in front of her.

Perhaps she was cooperating with the photographer. She crossed her hands and placed them on her legs, polite and polite. I wonder what she was thinking about at that time?

But the groom next to him might be frightened by the camera, opened his eyes wide, pupils dilated , staring at the camera, with a hint of horror, no joy of getting married, and not even calmer than the bride beside him.

The groom leaned a little to the side, and the two sat upright on the rattan chair, but they always kept a certain distance.

So we can't feel that this is a newlywed couple full of love for each other. They are more like two strangers, like a Qing Dynasty arranged marriage .

monogamous and polygamous system

This picture is a typical monogamous and polygamous system in the Qing Dynasty. Judging from people's clothing, this is a rich family in the Qing Dynasty, with a large family, with a large number of wives and concubines, and children in their arms.

The above also mentioned that the main purpose of marriage for ancient people was to have children, especially for wealthy families. In order to have more children and more blessings, the family will have more men, and the master will marry more wives.

But except for the wife of the eldest wife who is the master's legitimate wife, the relationship between the other concubines and the master is more like a master-servant relationship than a husband and wife. When men in the Qing Dynasty married concubines, they were just used to "drive" .

, and the wives and concubines are also of distinct ranks, with a huge difference in status, with a very obvious difference between , . If the wife cannot give birth to a child, then the concubine's children can be adopted directly under the name of the wife.

However, the children born to the concubine are not only not allowed to participate in family sacrifices, but they cannot even call their mother a "mother", but can only call them "auntie" or "mother" , because this "mother" is used to call the wife.

There are always exceptions, such as the couple in this old photo, which looks particularly different. The wife sits directly on the husband's legs, with a rough and simple background.

Although they were sitting on the stone platform, both of them smiled slightly, with a hint of sweetness and happiness in it.

But the emotional expression between couples in ancient times was often more subtle, and they would keep a certain distance in front of others.

There are few expressions of love as close as this couple, and I don’t know if it was requested by the photographer. The same is true for a young couple in this old photo. The two took a photo on a soft floral bed.

Most of the Qing Dynasty couples had expressionless photos, sitting upright and keeping distance, but it is rare to lie down like the husband in the picture.

And the wife also sat openly on the edge of her husband's legs, crossing her legs, revealing her " -inch golden lotus ".

But compared to the women in the previous old photos, the wife's entire posture and expression seemed more generous and confident, without being timid and cowardly, and she did not seem to be afraid of her husband at all. The husband and wife should have equal status.

Of course, the old photos of the Qing Dynasty were not only men and women, but also various situations in the world.

This is an interesting snapshot. A man wearing a hat is urinating in the corner of a few people, but unexpectedly he was captured by a photographer.

The picture was frozen at that moment. If he knew someone was photographing him, he would probably have to hold it in any case and go to the bathroom at home.

What he didn't expect was that his urination in the corner would be observed by later generations more than a hundred years later.

But in fact, this man is not an isolated case. It is no wonder that the Qing Dynasty people had already seen urination and defecation in various places.

Qi Rushan Mr. Qi Rushan has also described this phenomenon:

"Est the alleys in Beijing are especially places where people gather and urinate. They always squat in two rows. Passers-by are not surprised... Newcomers in the countryside often cannot show respect in the alleys because of shame, because they do not have this habit."

shows that urination and defecation had become the custom of Beijing city at that time. Even people from the countryside couldn't stand this behavior of the people in the city. After all, there were too many urination and defecation everywhere, which was indeed a bit indecent, and the smell was unpleasant, and the smell was so foul.

The poor people of the Qing Dynasty

This is an ordinary family from the Qing Dynasty. It is obvious that the family is sitting around a small dining table to eat. Halfway through the meal, the photographer was about to take a photo. There were shells and rice grains falling around the rice bowl on the table. The man on the left had not had time to put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hand.

Their eyes were full of curiosity, surprise, and doubt, but both adults and children had prominent cheekbones and thin bones.

The woman was wrapped in a headscarf and stood aside. There seemed to be no extra seat here, she could only stand, maybe she was the daughter of this family or maybe her wife.

has rice and not many side dishes. Although it is just plain rice, it was not easy for the people at the bottom of the Qing Dynasty at that time to be able to have a normal meal like this.