What does Chinese people’s homesickness look like?

↑A group of National Geographic fans, focusing on exploring the extreme world

This article was specially produced by Ping An of China

Mid-Autumn Festival is coming

1.4 billion Chinese

430 million Chinese households

The annual

A day of collective moon-gazing and homesickness

The Chinese are probably the most

The most homesick group

We write our homesickness into poems and essays

From the plateau to the sea

All over the country

(Su Shi's "Water Melody: When Will the Bright Moon Appear")

▼

"May we live long and share the beauty of the moon even though we are thousands of miles apart"

From the first to the fifteenth day

From Mid-Autumn Festival to Spring Festival

We will every full moon night

Become a unique festival of homesickness

(People watching the moon in Xishan, Beijing, on Mid-Autumn Festival, photographer @陈肖)

▼

Whether it is a landscape

(Children returning home from school on the Jiabang Rice Terraces in Guizhou, photographer @老西关)

▼

A taste

(Red dates in Zepu County, Kashgar, Xinjiang, represent the taste of home, photographer @赖宇宁)

▼

Still a local accent, a familiar figure

Can easily awaken our homesickness

(Zhagana, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, an old man carrying a child, photographer @Popeye)

▼

Hometown and Nostalgia

Why it matters

How it was born

How has it changed us?

01 The agricultural society of hometown in time

Smaller human activity range

However, as productivity increases

Humans domesticated cattle, horses, and camels

These strong and enduring creatures

Replaced our legs

(Running horses on the Xilin Gol grassland, photographer @颜景龙)

▼

People invented cars and boats.

Driving a speeding chariot

The Qin army swept across the world and unified the four directions

A decree spread throughout the world

"The same track for vehicles and the same writing system for books"

From now on, all roads lead to Xianyang

(From "The Doctrine of the Mean" in "The Book of Rites", the main traffic lines consisting of Qinchi Road and Straight Road, drawn by @Chen Zhihao/Planetary Research Institute)

▼

Besides the road

Numerous canals

Forming a water transport network

(Distribution of major ancient canals from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Qin and Han Dynasties, drawn by @Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)

▼

In addition

Plank road hanging on the cliff

Direct access to Bashu

(Ancient plank road at Jianmen Pass in Sichuan, photographer @王寰)

▼

Bridges

Crossing the River

(Luding Bridge in Sichuan, photographer @楼晋宇)

▼

A huge transportation system

Formed on this vast land

Emperors fight for supremacy

Advisors come and go

Students travel to Beijing

Soldiers rush to the battlefield

Merchants walking the streets

People are going further and further away

And left behind

It became my hometown

In ancient times, transportation was not yet developed.

As the saying goes

(Mu Xin, "The Skylark Sings All Day: Life Was Slow in the Past")

▼

"The days of the past have become slower, cars, horses, and mail are all slower"

So the homesickness was strong at that time.

Nostalgia becomes poetry

Han and Tang Dynasties

People expanded into the Western Regions and made expeditions to the northern desert

Soldiers guarding the border, envoys traveling far away, princesses marrying for peace

"Once the purple palace is gone, it will be connected to the desert, leaving only the green tomb facing the sunset"

(The poem is from Du Fu's "Five Poems on Ancient Monuments, No. 3", the camel bells in the desert on the Hexi Corridor, photographer @林北岸)

▼

For them

Chang'an behind me is my hometown

Therefore, there is a poem saying

"The floating clouds always block the sun, and I am sad when I can't see Chang'an"

(The poem is from Li Bai's "Climbing the Phoenix Tower in Nanjing", modern Xi'an Datang Furong Garden and Big Wild Goose Pagoda, photographer @陈昀生)

▼

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties

Northern residents move south

Turning a foreign land into a hometown

From the Jiangnan Water Village to the South of the Five Ridges

From Bashan and Shushui to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

Homesickness has a richer sustenance

There is also a poem about homesickness.

"My home is in Jinling County, I married a young man from Chang'an, looking back at my hometown, tears fall, I don't know where the horizon is"

(From Yu Xin's "Song of Resentment" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, photographer @清溪)

▼

All dynasties, all corners of the world

The homesickness of countless people

It has become a torrent in the history of Chinese poetry

(The proportion of homesickness poems in Tang Dynasty poetry, drawn by @Huang Minrui/Planet Research Institute)

▼

There is earnest expectation in the poem

(Wang Anshi, "Mooring at Guazhou")

▼

"The spring breeze has greened the south bank of the river again, when will the bright moon shine upon me again?"

There is a sense of relief in returning home

(Tao Yuanming, "Returning to the Garden and Fields")

▼

"After being in a cage for a long time, I can finally return to nature"

There is the pride of returning home in glory

(Liu Bang's "Da Feng Ge")

▼

"The wind rises and the clouds fly, my power spreads across the country and I return to my hometown"

There is also the melancholy of being alone in a foreign land

(Wang Wei, "Remembering My Brothers in Shandong on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month")

▼

"As a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my family all the more during every festive occasion"

People miss the water shield and sea bass from their hometown

The mountains and rivers of my hometown

The hometown folks

Even the moon in my hometown

It is also brighter and rounder than other places.

(Du Fu's "Remembering My Brothers on a Moonlit Night")

▼

"The dew is white tonight, and the moon is bright in my hometown"

moon

It has also become the most commonly used image of homesickness.

Maybe it's because of its waxing and waning

Just like the joys and sorrows of the world

Or maybe it's the bright moon hanging high in the sky

It always makes people in two different places look in the same direction

As if looking into each other's eyes

(West Lake Leifeng Pagoda and the Mid-Autumn Moon, Photographer @潘永舟)

▼

5000 years of nostalgia

It is frozen in poetry.

Full of beauty and sorrow

When time comes to modern times

My hometown has changed again

02 Hometown on Earth Living in the Contemporary World

With stronger transportation capabilities

Able to cross mountains and oceans in a short time

The population is more mobile

In this context

Hometown has more different meanings

How big is China?

How many kinds of hometowns are there?

Northeast Region

Cold climate, dense forests

Lush vegetation provides a lot of organic matter

Low temperatures slow down the decomposition of organic matter in the soil.

Forming black soil with high humus content

The Songnen, Liaohe and Sanjiang plains in the northeast

The cultivated land accounts for 16% of the country’s total

Corn, sorghum, and soybeans are everywhere

Crops such as wheat and rice

Turn the former wasteland into China's granary

(Farmers working on the black soil in Wafang Town, Taonan City, Jilin Province, photographer @Qiu Huining)

▼

also

Northeast Rivers and Lakes

Rich in fish resources

Large fish frozen into "popsicles" at the winter fish market

It has become an indispensable landscape in the hometown of Northeastern people.

(Fuyuan Fish Market in Heilongjiang, photographer @王寰)

▼

North China

Flat terrain and convenient transportation

The Yellow River, Haihe River and Huaihe River bring water resources

Therefore, it has been an agricultural center since ancient times.

North China Plain

Densely populated villages

Characterized by "group settlement and large-scale farming"

Large fields of wheat and cotton

In the middle is a compact village

In the village there are square courtyards or buildings.

(Farmland and villages in Henan, with the Yellow River in the distance, photographer @陈俊杰)

▼

On the Loess Plateau

Farmlands and villages are scattered among the gullies.

People riding donkey carts

Or driving a small tricycle

Shuttle between the thick loess

(Autumn harvest of Ephedra Liang in Yuyang District of the Loess Plateau, photographer @任世明)

▼

From the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

To the southeast coastal areas

Abundant rainfall, numerous rivers and lakes

Large tracts of paddy fields replaced dry fields

In addition, there are tea plantations and orchards all over the mountains.

Constitute a more colorful hometown

(Sangji Fishpond, Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, photographer @文生)

▼

The villages here are densely populated

Each house has its own characteristics

Small bridges and flowing water in Jiangnan water village

The flying eaves and corners of Huizhou architecture

The earthen buildings in the mountainous areas of southern Fujian

And the wok-ear walls of Lingnan folk houses

(Tianluokeng Tulou in Nanjing, Fujian, photographer @Lu Wen)

▼

In the Northwest and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Because it is far from the ocean and has sparse rainfall

Large grasslands replaced forests

But this place has also become China's pastoral base

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Bashang Grassland, photographer @沈勇)

▼

Snowy mountains and canyons

In forests and grasslands

People set up yurts or felt houses

Build a wooden fence around the house to keep the cattle and sheep in.

This is a hometown full of mythical atmosphere

(Nomadic people in Tianshan Mountains, photographer @刘辰)

▼

But at the same time

People also reclaimed wasteland

Turning the Northwest into another granary

This is a hometown full of enthusiasm and energy

(In Shaya County, Xinjiang, a cotton sowing and film covering machine equipped with GPS is working, photographer @袁欢欢)

▼

In the Southwest

People make full use of the terrain

Developed a large-scale terraced field

Huge changes in altitude and latitude

The natural environment here is extremely diverse

(Red Land in Dongchuan, Yunnan, photographer @范俊川)

▼

More than 40 ethnic minorities

Build a unique building in the mountains

Create a unique hometown

(Dudong Dong Village, Sanjiang, Guangxi, photographer @Lu Wen)

▼

besides

And the hometown in the mountains

(Ladongtai Village, Zhuoer Mountain, Qinghai, photographer @焦潇翔)

▼

Hometown by the river

(Village by the Lancang River, photographer @胡澍)

▼

Hometown by the lake

(The village next to Pumoyongcuo, photographer @李珩)

▼

Hometown by the sea

(Huangshan Village, Laoshan District, Qingdao, photographer @烟雨斜阳)

▼

Hometown under the cliff

(Home under the cliff of Longwan, Jingtai, Gansu, photographer @Lu Wen)

▼

Home in the desert

(Dariabuyi, a small village in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert, photographer @文兴华)

▼

Hometown is not the same as the countryside

Many people's hometown is in the city

There are still traces of time in some corner there.

Reminiscent of childhood

(Guangzhou, photographer @何易成)

▼

Hometown is not even limited to cities and villages

For people across the Taiwan Strait

The mainland is my hometown

Nostalgia on both sides of the Taiwan Strait

Build a bridge

(Yu Guangzhong, Nostalgia)

▼

"Homesickness is a shallow strait

I'm here

The mainland is over there."

For overseas Chinese

The whole of China is my hometown

(On September 20, 2020, local time, Singaporeans arranged lanterns on the streets to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. Image source: @VCG)

▼

Hometown not only constitutes

Diverse landscapes across China

It also preserves the traditional lifestyle and culture

From the white mountains and black waters of the northeast

(Winter fishing in Chagan Lake in Northeast China, photographer @Qiu Huining)

▼

To the southeast seashore

(Xiapu Fishery, photographer @都文明)

▼

Here are the traditional customs that we are gradually becoming unfamiliar with

(Dragon dance in Qinghu Village, Baiyun District, during the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, photographer @Lu Wen)

▼

Under the influence of different environments, products and customs

The various hometown delicacies formed

How many people are haunted by it?

(Rural delicacies in Anhui cuisine, photographer @方叹士)

▼

More parents, brothers and sisters

Aunts and uncles

Childhood classmates and playmates

Hometown memories

(A farmhouse in Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, photographer @杨清舜)

▼

This is our hometown now.

It is not stuck in the past

It is constantly changing

There's a massive exodus going on here.

It is also filled with the hopes of countless people.

03 Leaving and Watching Modern China

Urbanization is getting higher

(Show the urbanization rate of each province from 1990 to 2018, drawn by @陈志浩/Planet Research Institute)

▼

A large number of people flocked to the city

China's rural population has dropped from its peak of 860 million in 1995 to

It has gradually declined to 550 million in 2019.

In the same period

The urban population increased from 350 million to 840 million

(Changes in China's rural and urban populations from 1995 to 2018. 2010 was a turning point. Map by @Zhang Jing/Planet Research Institute)

▼

A large number of villages have become "hollow villages"

Young people go out to work

Only the elderly and children are left

(Elderly people left behind in Banliang Ancient Village, Chenzhou, Hunan, photographer @何小清)

▼

Some have even been completely relocated.

Completely in ruins

(No Man’s Village in Shengshan, Zhejiang, photographer @赵高翔)

▼

also

Limitations of the natural environment

The curse that has trapped many villages in poverty

Some are between the layers of mountains

The high mountains and valleys blocked the external traffic

(A small village deep in Tianjie Mountain, Huixian County, Henan Province, photographer @刘辰)

▼

Some are on the karst plateau

The "riddled" surface

Causes soil erosion

(Taihe Township, located in the peaks near Enshi Grand Canyon, photographer @李珩)

▼

Some in extremely arid areas

Yellow sand everywhere, few wells

(Village in Jingtai County, Baiyin, Gansu, photographer @Lu Wen)

▼

Some are in high-altitude areas

Sparse vegetation and few people

(A village in the Peacock River Valley in Purang County, Ali Prefecture, Tibet, photographer @Sun Yan)

▼

Limitations of the natural environment

Population loss, etc.

It’s the countryside—this special hometown

Problems that must be faced

2020

This is the year to win the battle against poverty.

In the past 5 years

Through agricultural mechanization and intelligent

Measures such as developing characteristic industries

The number of rural poor people decreased from 55.75 million to 5.51 million

(Data from the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office. The picture shows children from Fuxi Village, Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi. Photographer: @Lu Wen)

▼

Ancestors of all generations

There was once a hometown like a poem

We are now

A hometown with a very diverse population

But hometown is not only in the past

Not limited to those times that can never be returned

And the unforgettable past

Hometown is the future

China Today

This is the hometown of our descendants.

The future hometown

It's up to you, it's up to me

It depends on every Chinese

May our descendants

There is a more beautiful hometown

(Children left behind in their hometown in Pingliang, Gansu, photographer @左雪兰)

▼

This article was created by

Written by: Cheng Bing Ji

Image: Vegetable pancake, Wuling people

Map: Chen Zhihao

Design: Zhang Jing, Huang Minrui

Proofreading: Li Zhangziwei, Fengzi, Tom Tan

Cover Photographer: Du Wenming

PS The main references of this article are:

[1] Wang Zijin. A Draft History of Transportation in the Qin and Han Dynasties[M]. Social Sciences Academic Press, 2020.

[2] Hu Renfen, Zhu Yuchen. Research on automatic classification of Tang poetry themes[J]. Journal of Peking University, 2014.

[3] Ning Zhizhong. Chinese Rural Geography[M]. China Architecture & Building Press, 2019.

[4] Office of the Leading Group of the State Council on Poverty Alleviation and Development. Outline of China's Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development (2011-2020) [M]. People's Publishing House, 2011.

... The End ...

Planetary Research Institute

A group of National Geographic fans, focusing on exploring the extreme world