| The town of Hongjiang is situated in Xiangxi (West Hunan). Its unique geographical location at the junction of the Yuanshui and Wushui rivers made Hongjiang a trading center since the Song dynasty, serving the provinces of Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hubei. During the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hongjiang even became a southwestern metropolis of sorts, with businesses flourishing. In the Qing dynasty, a modern economy began to emerge in China, and it was in the early Mingguo era that Hongjiang reached its zenith. The profusion of firms, warehouses, banks, brothels and restaurants all packed in there together, earned it a nickname—the “Little Shanghai” of Xiangxi. In recent decades, Shen Cong-Wen’s novel Bian Cheng (Remote Town) made the town of Phoenix in Xiangxi better known. |  |
Bao Kun
The town of Hongjiang is situated in Xiangxi (West Hunan). Its unique geographical location at the junction of the Yuanshui and Wushui rivers made Hongjiang a trading center since the Song dynasty, serving the provinces of Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hubei. During the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hongjiang even became a southwestern metropolis of sorts, with businesses flourishing. In the Qing dynasty, a modern economy began to emerge in China, and it was in the early Mingguo era that Hongjiang reached its zenith. The profusion of firms, warehouses, banks, brothels and restaurants all packed in there together, earned it a nickname—the “Little Shanghai” of Xiangxi. In recent decades, Shen Cong-Wen’s novel Bian Cheng (Remote Town) made the town of Phoenix in Xiangxi better known. But in fact, the most important town of Xiangxi is still Hongjiang.
Today waterway transport has been superseded by the more efficient highway and railroad. The transformation of transportation has rendered many ports, once bustling, forgotten. This is the case of Hongjiang, which has been sidelined by the fast pace of modernization and become a nearly invisible sign on the map of China.
As a symbol and repository of traditional culture, however, Hongjiang has been well preserved. Everything seems to have halted in Hongjiang, and time seems to have come to a still since half a century ago. Hongjiang has turned, from a busy port town, into a peaceful backwater, a piece of cultural history.
In the past several years, Hunan photographer Ou Yang Xing Kai has been taking photographs of Hongjiang. From the point of view of a culture observer, he has recorded the architecture, the people, and their lifestyle in this town that has been preserved during the course of history. His photography is not simply documentation, nor is it a kind of bloated photographic portrayal—a style popular in the media nowadays. Ou Yang expresses his impression of Hongjiang and its people with a vision filled with gentle warmth as he takes a closer look at this town as a historical specimen. While taking photographs, he pays meticulous attention to the details that truly reflect Hongjiang’s history and culture, to the relationship between the space and people that are in it, to the objects carrying a trace of history, all of which composes Hongjiang’s distinct geocultural lifestyle. In his photography, one may find paths winding up and down the hillside, wooden stoves and wooden doors, stone tanks for fighting fire, and bacon hanging from windowsills. When Ou Yang chooses a scene to photograph, he focuses on the reality of people’s lives in this small, remote town. The elderly, the children, and young couples, they all seem to live in the past, and everything about them is in harmony with their surroundings. They still carry on all the cultural practices belonging to this distinct town: festivals and rituals, wedding and funeral ceremonies, and neighborhood interaction, in contrast to the metropolitan lifestyle that seems open-minded but is often closed. From Ou Yang’s point of view, Hongjiang is full of the flavor of everyday life. In Ou Yang’s photographs, one can visualize the childhood that he is trying to recall, and the emotions that have been wiped out by modernization but he is trying to re-experience. With these photographs of Hongjiang, Ou Yang subconsciously conveys his idea of what constitutes the essence of life. This comprehension exudes a kind of sympathy, somewhat hopeless and desperate, because Hongjiang will eventually be replaced by the concrete jungle that is now beginning to surround the town.
Whether or not Hongjiang will be preserved in the future, today’s Hongjiang and its people will inevitably, step into history. Modern technology may be able to preserve Hongjiang’s historical buildings, but won’t be able to preserve the facial expressions and lifestyle of Hongjiang’s people. As today’s Hongjiang is walking into history, the documentation of Hongjiang by Ou Yang will surely provide classic material for future generations to interpret the history of Xiangxi. Ou Yang’s photographic evidence of Hongjiang will become a Hongjiang preserved. A piece of history preserved.
