Changing China

By Elin Spring

Can you remember the last time you wandered through a county fair? Where I live in Massachusetts, the Topsfield Fair, “America’s oldest county fair” has coincided with the fall harvest since 1818. Regional festivals like this are held all over the world, typically honoring an annual holiday and endearing participants with homey traditions that nurture a sense of geographic identity and history. If you’ve ever wondered how other cultural celebrations compare with ours, Chinese photographer Zhang Xiao has taken a behind-the-scenes look at “Shehuo” (or “Community Fire”) annual Spring Festivals commemorating the Chinese Lunar New Year. Photographing in the Shaanxi and Henan provinces of Northern China, his comparison of “Shehuo” between 2007 and 2019 visualizes a fascinating transformation in these ancient enclaves. Just as our harvest festivals reflect American values, Zhang’s comparative examination of “Shehuo” rituals uncover seismic shifts in Chinese culture. Free and open to the public, the exhibition will be on view at the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA through April 14th, 2024.

“A girl waits, in the early morning, to change into her costume, Huanghuayu Village, Shaanxi Province (Shaanxi series No.1)” 2007, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

In 2007, Zhang Xiao first journeyed into the rural, agrarian north of China to take pictures “like a tourist” of the 10-day rituals and festivities of Shehuo. He found villages that had been converted into theatrical wonderlands and turned his attention to the individuals who seemed just as transformed by their preparations and performances. Zhang was especially drawn by the disconnection between their daily lives and the festival characters they embodied.

“Two Shehuo performers adjust each other’s costumes, Huanghuaya Village, Shaanxi Province (Shaanxi series No.2)” 2007, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Whether through morning fog or industrial haze, townspeople appear like bright apparitions enveloped in a murky mist. Zhang’s lens finds them walking alone and in groups, some partially readied, others fully costumed in elaborate make-up and handmade regalia that had been passed down through generations. They seem suspended in time, as if possessed by their ancestors, making their way to assigned roles and locations. The mood is somber and pious. Zhang’s ethereal photographs whisper with reverence as they wonder at an ancient past that comes to life before our eyes.

“Shehuo performance team walks on stilts in a New Year’s parade, Xunxian County, Henan Province” 2019, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

“Performer rests in a dressing room before a show, Xunxian County, Henan Province” 2019, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

When Zhang returned to photograph these towns over a decade later, he discovered a sea-change in Shehuo. With the government’s encouragement, a mass exodus of young people to cities for employment helped stoke China’s renewed vigor to complete on the world stage.  As a result, rural communities became hollowed out, and with them, some august traditions.

“Blood Shehuo is a subgenre that incorporates elements of horror and gore. Here, Blood Shehuo performers do each other’s makeup before a show, Yanjiaan Village, Shaanxi Province” 2018, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Feature Image: “Ensemble of Blood Shehuo performers, Yanjiaan Village, Shaanxi Province” 2018, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated today by citizens everywhere returning to their hometowns for Shehuo festivities. Out of necessity, homespun traditions have been replaced with hurried preparations, manufactured costumes and machine-made, symbolic “props” used for decorations and participants.

“Piles of masks in Huo Xiaowu’s workshop, Huozhuang Village, Henan Province” 2019, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

In contrast to his otherworldly images from a decade earlier, Zhang’s sharp, brightly colored photographs accentuate the pace of change by focusing on the mass-produced goods used to recreate modern Shehuo. His attention to sometimes amusing incongruities between past and current practices underscores the government’s escalating ambitions. China’s push to increase factory production and promote tourism is artfully reflected in Zhang’s beguiling images.

“Villagers wearing a lion dance costume for two performers, Huozhuang Village, Henan Province” 2018, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

For more information about this exhibit, go to: https://peabody.harvard.edu/shehuo-community-fire

Installation view of “Onesies for each of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, Huozhuang Village, Henan Province” 2019, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. (photo by Elin Spring)

Zhang Xiao (Chinese, b. 1981) is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography, an endowed fund awarded annually by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University to an established artist to create “a major book of photographs on the human condition anywhere in the world.”  The bilingual book, Shehuo: Community Fire, co-published by the Peabody Museum and Aperture, is a richly expanded version of the current exhibition.

For information about the book, go to: https://aperture.org/books/zhang-xiao-community-fire/

For information about the Robert Gardner Fellowship, go to: https://peabody.harvard.edu/robert-gardner-fellowship-photography

I am grateful to Ilisa Barbash, Curator of Visual Anthropology at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University for her enlightening tour and discussion of this exhibit and for making me aware of the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography. And special thanks to Alison Nordstrom, who led me to these delightful discoveries.

“Boy doll head props for yangko folk dance, Huozhuang Village, Henan Province” 2018, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.