In 1941, 67 old images of Suomo, Chuosijia, Jinchuan and Lifan in Aba, Sichuan

Sharing a group of old photos of Aba Tibetan area in Sichuan in 1941, let’s take a look at the past characteristics of Aba Somomo, Chuosijia, Jinchuan, Lipan and other regions 80 years ago

The photographer of this group of old photos is Rui Yifu (1897— 1991), a famous anthropologist and ethnologist from Luanyang, Jiangsu Province

He was admitted to the Department of Foreign Languages of National Southeast University in 1923 and worked in the library of Tsinghua University after graduation in 1927. In 1930, he served in the Institute of History. In 1931, he participated in Ling Chunsheng’s Hezhen research and went to the lower reaches of the Songhua River to conduct a field survey of Hezhen. In 1933, together with Ling Chunsheng and Warrior Heng, they went to Phoenix, Qiancheng, Yongsui and other places in southwest Hunan for three months to investigate the living conditions and social situation of the Miao and Yao ethnic groups. From 1935 to 1936, Rui Yifu participated in the Sino British survey of the border of southern Yunnan and Myanmar, and visited the chieftains of Mongding, Gengma, Mengyun, Menglian and other regions of Kawa such as Banhong and Banlao along with the Boundary Survey Commission to the border of Yunnan and Myanmar

In 1937, when the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, the Institute of History and Language moved to Kunming, Yunnan Province, and then to Lizhuang, Nanxi, Sichuan Province. Rui Yifu began to engage in a comprehensive study of the Chinese nation, in addition to continuing the field work of the ethnic groups in the southwest. This group of pictures were taken during Rui Yifu’s investigation in Aba, Sichuan Province from October to November 1941