Twenty years ago，I wanted to make a book about folk life
I have been travelling aross the country with a camera since 2000
I visited many towns and villages all over China
To find the street trades which were going to disappear
Our ancestors said there were 360 trades
But the number of the trades recorded by me are a lot more than that
They belong to agriculture, industry or handicraft industry
There are also small business and various trades
I have taken at least tens of thousands of pictures
Because I was born in the 1950s
I witnessed the rise and fall of these trades
In the early stage of Reform and Opening-up, as the market restrictions were lifted
All kinds of trades and careers began to appear again
The market in cities and some villages was chaotic
In fact, the more chaotic the market is, the more folk trades there are
Such as street vendors who set unfinished chess games
Monkey acrobats, freestyle calligraphers, fortune tellers
And street billards room runners
There were also lots of medicine trades
Because we used to lack doctors and medicines
There were even vendors who cut corns
And extracted teeh
Some were charlatans
There were lots of migrant traders
Especially for older people
Who seldom went to the fairs or the town
They went to migrant barbers for haircut
The barbers carried tools on their shoulders and walked from villages to villages
In the early stage of Reform and Opening-up
Many people wanted to work outside their hometown and they needed all kinds of papers
So there were migrant photographers who took photos for people on the street
They hung a piece of red cloth as the backdrop and took photos for people one by one
Chinese folks were quite industious and thrifty
So there used to be the trade of repairing
Which was very thriving
Bowls and pots could be repaired
So did porcelain and shoes
Now, you can rarely see such trades
People don’t wear mended clothes.
And use repaired pots
There were many workshops in both cities and villages
Food, clothing and household items were produced there
In this village
He rented a place to make mattresses
The farmers liked the mattresses he made
What were inside the mattresses could be seen clearly
In the past people relied on faimly workshops
Now industiral processes have been established
Since I had the plan of photographing various trades
I have been making trips across the country to find trades
I went to Huangshan, Anhui to find compass craftsmen
I went to Shanxi to find craftsmen who make clay figures and brush pens
There was a chalk village in Hubei
I found the vendors on planned trips and by accident
For example, we often saw popcorn vendors on the street in the past
But in recent years they can be rarely seen
In one trip
I found a popcorn vendor accidentally
I aksed the driver to stop and I got off the car to take pictures
The couple drove a small four-wheel vehicle
They made and sold popcorn during the day
And they slept in the vehicle at night
I once met a pig-castrating man in a village in Lianzhou
According to him, a pig used to be raised for a year before it was butchered
But now a pig is raised for only a few months before it’s butchered
And before it needs castration
It has become pork and is sold on the market
So he has less and less customers now
In recent years I realize it’s harder to find old trades
Which indicates the life of Chinese folks is getting better and better
I record the trades with my pictures and words
What I record is actually a long period of history
And the life once had by many generations