天津市 Tianjin 1983年
I arrived at Tianjin by overnight train from Shenyang on 1983 September 19, and departed on the next day for Beijing.
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I have many questions about the sequence of images that I have labeled "Sternly crack down ..."
This sequence of images is the first that I made while in Tianjin. Slide sequence numbers establish this.
The location was in front of the 寶林祥食品店, Bǎolínxiáng shípǐndiàn, "Bǎolínxiáng Food Store."
I am not certain where this food store was located. However, I believe that I have correctly identified the "cross streets" (as we say).
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This is a "vanished scene," as documented by satellite images. These suggest that the buildings were demolished because of road widening.
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I do not remember how I reached this location - or why I went there (Tianjin's trolleybus system was located some distance away).
The location was close to Tianjin's "Old City." This I did not visit because I did not know about it.
My "best guess" is that I alighted from the train from Shenyang at Tianjin North Station (天津北站, Tiānjīn běizhàn) - for some reason. I do not remember why.
The Tianjin city transport map - which I might have purchased at (or near) Tianjin North - shows that motorbus line 1 extended from the station to 人民大楼, Rénmín dàlóu. The "city center" trolleybus line terminals were located nearby.
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By the time that I made these images, I believed that criminals were "displayed," as a form of humiliation, on a regular - and ongoing - basis. Certainly not "every day," perhaps not "every week," but possibly "once every month or two."
That was not correct.
A Communist Party of China (CPC) member, whom I met aboard a train, described a speech by CPC General Secretary 胡耀邦, Hú Yàobāng.
I believe that Hu delivered this speech at the Sixth National People's Congress. One of his three points was, "We must improve public security."
"Public security" - that is, China's increasing crime rate - became a concern from the beginning of large-scale reforms in 1978. According to (current) newspaper accounts, a sudden surge of crimes took place during mid-1983. The event that prompted the crackdown is described as a "rampage" by 8 criminals during "more than 10 consecutive hours." This included "rare large-scale homicide" of 27 people between the ages of two and 75. The date of this event is stated as 1983 June 16, but the location (or locations) is not.
At the end of 1983 July, a national legal and political conference in Beijing transmitted a directive of the CPC "Standing Committee of the Political Bureau" and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee for a "crackdown on serious criminal activities."
[Correction: the published text of the decision is dated 1983 August 25.
[The crackdown was referred to as 严厉打击刑事犯罪活动, Yánlì dǎjí xíngshì fànzuì huódòng. I do not know if there was an "official" or "semi-official" translation into English, but I remember reading "Sternly Crack Down on Criminal Activities" - somewhere. The crackdown was known as, 严打, Yándǎ ("Crackdown"), for short.
[The "parades" that I witnessed - and photographed - were part of the crackdown. Some English-language sources state that the crackdown began during 1983 September, but I first saw a "parade" near the end of 1983 August.]
If I remember correctly, I met the CPC member while traveling to, or from, Nanchang - only a few days before I departed the mainland.
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I do not remember where I was standing - or sitting - when I made these images.
Perhaps I was seated, aboard a motorbus, stopped while waiting for the "parade" to pass. The "camera angles" of most of the images appear to confirm this.
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The reason that I made these images: as explained above, I believed - correctly or not - that these "parades" were a routine part of life in Chinese cities. (Not necessarily a "daily" part, but a "routine" part.) As I have explained previously, my "goal" was not just to photograph "public transport," but "urban life" as well.
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The need for the 1983 crackdown was explained, if indirectly, by a Chinese official who was interviewed on a U.S. educational television program.
This man explained that China had made significant progress since the end of the 无产阶级文化大革命, Wúchǎn jiējí wénhuà dàgémìng, "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution."
However, he continued, many problems remained. One of the largest problems, he said, was that some people "had not been given an adequate education," and "do not have sufficient skills." Some, he said, have even resorted to crime.
This television program (and the newspaper story described above) helped to explain the following ...
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I was sitting aboard a motorbus (or, less likely, standing in the street) making photographs. My camera is not "large," but it is not "tiny," either.
Not only was I using a camera "in plain sight" (as we say), but I was ("probably") wearing one of my very bright "T"-shirts (so "loud" that you could almost "hear" them).
No one attempted to stopped me from making these images. As in other cities, the Public Security and military (or Armed Police) men voiced no objections to my making photographs. In fact, it quickly became apparent that they "couldn't care less" (as we say). This lack of concern may be seen in facial expressions.
Very interesting.