Old photos of Yunnan in the late Qing Dynasty taken by French Fang Suya

In October 1899, a 42 year old Frenchman, with seven cameras and a large number of dry glass pieces (which came out only in 1885), finally arrived in Kunming, the then capital of Yunnan Province, after 11 months, and began his diplomatic career in China. This Frenchman is Auguste· Fran ç ois (Chinese name Fang Suya) was the highest French diplomat in Yunnan from 1899 to 1904. After Ren Man returned to China, he and his wife went to the countryside, where they were living in a place called“ Small China” He lived in seclusion in his courtyard until his death in 1935. He had no children. What he left to his wife was a batch of Chinese articles, 110 glass negatives and thousands of photos in a red sandalwood box

This group of photos is the old photos of Yunnan taken by Fang Suya. For various reasons, few of the thousands of photos taken by Fang Suya have been circulated on the Internet, and most of them, if any, are vague. This site has collected more than ten clear photos for preview:

忠爱坊处于正义路南段，过去这里作为昆明二十八铺之一的高山铺，街市纵横，商贾云集，因居珠市（宝善街）、马市（顺城街，过去顺城街属于马帮的会聚地之一）、羊市（正义路中段）要冲，故名三市街。图中后面的城墙为云南四门之一的丽正门，上建有楼，名近日楼，昆明人俗称小南门，城下为顺城街，过去马帮集散地之一，今为新百货大楼及顺城商业中心。近日楼现在外移至东寺街，新“古董”，徒有其名而已。

1898年昆明圆通寺

图为身穿越南皇帝龙袍的方苏雅（1900年）

“人上人” 1899年 云南

晚清时期热闹喧哗的金马坊。金马、碧鸡二坊是昆明的城市象征，东为金马坊，西为碧鸡坊，始建于明代宣德年间，距今已有近六百年的历史。原金马、碧鸡坊古建筑于文革期间被拆，1998年在原址重建。

百年前熙攘的一条路(1899年，昆明)

　　图中的白塔位于云南府城东２里处，是当时拓东路上的标志性建筑之一。图右的建筑是古真武祠，为旧“汉营”，相传是诸葛孔明南征时屯军之所，唐代建拓东城，因此祠内有诸葛亮石刻 像。从照片中我们还可以看出当时主要街道的路况和两旁的集市贸易情景，是极有代表性的老昆明风情图。方苏雅选择塔洞内有人、路中有牛车的时机拍照，是为了留下尺寸上的参照，这也是他惯常的做法之一。

至今尤存的东西寺塔(1900年，昆明)

汪洋中的一条街(1903年，昆明)

　　图中被盘龙江所患的街道即报国寺街。盘龙江地势低平，纵贯南北，是穿越昆明市内的最大河流，历史上就多次因河道壅淤，汛期溃堤成灾，造成大小东门外的田亩和绣衣街、报国寺街一片汪洋。尤以清同治辛未年(公元1871年)大水最为严重，城内城外毁屋上千栋，据说水一直漫到报国寺大殿上三世佛的莲座，有八、九尺深。水患原因当然是排洪道不畅，但民间传说金牛寺的金牛事前叫几声，水就涨几尺。现金牛街的金牛寺已不存，但金牛还在，只是不再鸣叫。

这是方苏雅于1900年手绘的云南府城郭略图(不包括中庆城和拓东城),虽不很精确，但把握住了整体形状(灵龟)和内部构成，用阿拉伯数字详细标注了主要建筑和方位物，并留下地名和照片。