Until
1972, my knowledge of China was essentially limited to the Judge Dee mysteries by Robert Van Gulik and
American-made Charlie Chan
movies based on the books by Earl Derr Biggers. In
other words, what I understood was a combination of historical fiction and
entertaining stereotypes.
That
year, President Nixon made the historic opening to the People’s Republic of
China. By the fall, when I was starting my senior year, LSU offered courses in
Chinese history for the first time. And I took both that were offered. While I
was an irregular class attendee (especially my last semester, when I was managing
editor of the student newspaper), I read all of the required books for the
courses plus others on my own. The books included Edgar Snow’s Red
Star Over China, books about Chiang Kai-Chek and his formidable wife,
the birth of the Chinese Republic in 1912, China during World War II, and
overviews of the China’s long imperial history. I renewed my interest in
Chinese history and affairs in the 1990s, even going so far as to try to teach
myself Mandarin Chinese.
No,
I didn’t succeed in learning the language. I still remember the words for “thank
you,” however – pronounced something like “shay-shay.”
Like
any large subject, the more you learn, the less you realize you know.
What
I do know about China, however, is largely limited to the eastern half of the
country. My knowledge and understanding of the western half, and particularly
the province of Xinjiang (what we used to call Sinkiang), was limited to
knowing it was where the Chinese tested their atomic bombs, and it was part of
the territory that included the old Silk Road, the ancient trade
route that linked China with India and the Mediterranean.
Along
comes a book to help fill some of my ignorance, at least photographically. Chinese
Turkestan: A Photographic Journey Through an Ancient Civilization by Ryan Pyle is an eye-opening wonder, filled
with black-and-white photographs that capture the region’s character and the
face of its people. And its people are only partially ethnic or Han Chinese.
Most of the residents of Xinjiang are Muslim Uyghurs, although there
has been a significant increase of ethnic Chinese moving to the area. And with
that increase comes change.
Pyle
uses the old name for the region for his title – Chinese Turkestan. “The old
name conjures up a region without physical borders,” he writes in the
introduction, “an admixture of an idea rather than a distinct geographical or
political entity.” And that idea permeates Chinese
Turkestan.
 |
| Ryan Pyle |
You see the face of the people, young and old. You see them in their daily lives, eating, worshipping, dancing, working. You see their history and culture etched in their faces, and it is indeed an ancient history.
What
is perhaps most surprising about these photographs is their seeming
timelessness. Many of the pictures could have been taken when cameras were
first invented in the 1800s. What I believe Pyle is emphasizing is the
continuity of the people and culture, even as they experience and deal with
significant change. What is most suggestive is the people’s resilience, and
reliance upon their traditional (and I suspect conservative) culture.
A
native of Canada and a graduate of the University of Toronto, Pyle is an award-winning
photographer and filmmaker. His Chinese
Turkestan is a beautiful book, treating its subject with a light hand and
with an engaging respect.
Related:
The
China Lens: Ryan Pyle is interviewed by China Today – the USC US-China
Institute
The
trailer for the book:
Top photograph: Woman picking cotton, from Chinese Turkestan by Ryan Pyle.
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