「Humans of China 中国平凡人」影像｜当山村里的少男少女渐渐老去

中国是一个广袤无垠的国家，有无数普通人生活在此，他们有喜怒哀乐、生老病死，但不是每个人都能获得殊荣被载入史册。他们的一生在我们的历史长河中，来无影去无踪。为了能将更多微小的个体的心声与经历记录下来，这组照片诞生了。他们是中国浩荡人群和历史中一朵微小的浪花，但是他们存在过。

China, a vast country with a population of 1.4 billion, has been undergoing a tremendous transformation in the decades. Here, people experience happiness, anger, sorrow, illness, and death, but not every individual has the privilege of being formally recorded in history. If not recorded, their stories will vanish without a trace. So I traveled to the countryside in China to hear rural residents’ voices and witness their everyday lives, thereby recording their history that is often unseen and ignored.

1

她，今年68岁，依靠每月1000多元的低保补贴生活，经常上后山砍柴，她有两个儿子，二儿子是一名公交车司机。当我看见她扛着锄头砍柴归来时，我拿起相机对着她，她捋了捋头发，将两手合拢端着，微微收下巴，笑得像一个十八岁的少女。

She, around 70 years old, relies on low-income rural family allowance of about 1,000 yuan. She often goes to the mountains to chop firewood. She has two sons. Her younger son is a bus driver in city. When she saw me carrying a camera, she smoothed her hair, held her hands together, and smiled shyly like an 18-year-old girl.

2

她小时候印象最深刻的事是她家房子被人放火烧了。十几岁那年，国民党在她家附近围剿新四军，新四军追击到她家的房子，怀疑国民党埋伏在楼上，纵了火。后来，她家得到一笔房子的赔偿。

她生活在20多人四世同堂的大家庭，怀孕期间也要不停地干农活才能养活大家。30多岁她，有一次从山上滚下，摔断了背骨，为了保住肚子里的胎儿，她没有接受接骨治疗。自那以后，她的背越来越弯，弯成了90度角。87岁的她，在农村小屋里缓慢移动，像一座拱桥。

One of the most unforgettable moments of her life was when her house was set on fire. When she was a teenager, the Kuomintang soldiers were fighting with the New Fourth Army, one of the two main communist forces in the 1930s, near her home. The New Fourth Amy suspected that the Kuomintang soldiers of plotting ambush upstairs and set her house on fire. After that, the New Fourth Army paid compensation to the lady's family.

The lady lived in a family of more than 20 people and had to do farm work throughout her pregnancy to support them. In her 30s, she fell off from mountains and her backbone was broken. Being concerned about the baby in her womb, she refused to receive bone-setting therapies. After that, her spine formed a 90-degree curve. At 87, she walks like an arched bridge.

3

四十多前，她和她丈夫收养了一个女孩，女孩的原生家庭希望生个儿子于是把女儿送人寄养。如今女儿已经成家，还找到了当年的亲生母亲。两家经常来往，每半年都去看望一次。

Four decades ago, she and her husband adopted a baby girl whose family wanted a son instead. The daughter grew up and has been contacting her birth mother. While the daughter still lives with her adoptive parents, the two families visited each other regularly.

4

她年轻怀孕的时候干农活，不小心从山上摔下，臀股与大腿骨连结处脱臼了。她向杭州富阳最著名的接骨中医专家求助，医生告知她接骨可能会导致流产，风险太大，再加上文革时期，医生是受打击的对象，任何的医疗风险对他来说可能是天大的灾难。杭州市的医院也没有医好她的脱臼。就这样，她带着这条不灵活的腿生活了大半辈子。

When she, pregnant in her 20s, was doing farm work, she fell off from mountains and her hip was dislocated. She sought help from the most famous bone surgeon in Fuyang, Hangzhou. The surgeon warned her that bone-setting could lead to abortion. Also, during the Cultural Revolution, doctors, among intellectuals, were deemed as "class enemies" and any patient complaints might bring them persecution. Hospitals in Hangzhou had no ideas about how to treat her. So she has lived with this dislocated hip since then.

5

他今年95岁，曾毕业于华东军政大学，毕业后在南京的一所军校教书。解放后他的家族被划为富农家庭。由于成分不好，他的儿子上到初中就没有资格考高中，辍学了，一辈子在农村务农。

The 95-year-old graduated from the East China Military and Political University and then taught at a military academy in Nanjing. During the land reform in China, his family was classified as "rich peasants" — their "evilness" was only second to landlords. So his son couldn't get the chance to continue his education, and dropped out of middle school. His son spent his entire life as a farmer in the countryside.

6

他曾是一位蚕种养殖工人，从蚕厂离岗后，他回到乡村务农。

He was a silkworm farmer. After leaving his job at a silkworm factory, he returned to the countryside to farm his land.

7

她是农村人，在城里打工做早点。

She was born in rural areas of Hangzhou and works as a breakfast cook in city.

8

她从未上过学。现在她时常去往城市照看孙子。

She never had the chance to go to school. Now she often travels to the city to look after her grandchild.

9

他曾经是一个镇干部，退休了，在家干活，养山羊。

He, who used to be a town cadre, retired to raise goats at home. 

最后

这组照片基本靠抓拍，当这些“老去的男孩女孩”面对镜头，多数的他们从容一笑，挠挠头不好意思地说，“呀，拍我呀！我不好看呐。” 我说：“怎么会？您笑得多好看！” 在我的心里，他们灿烂的笑容散发着内心深处的美。他们活了大半辈子也很少照相，我希望他们的美能在这一瞬间定格，纪念他们曾经撑起了中国的大半边天。