推荐一本被时光定格的“中国情书”——《昨天的中国》

A “Love Letter to China” Frozen in Time — China Yesterday

如果只能推荐一本书来理解1985年至2000年的中国，我会毫不犹豫地选择法国摄影师阎雷的摄影集——《昨天的中国》。这不是一本宏大的史书，却比任何史书都更鲜活、更真实。它用近300张照片，为你打开一扇通往“昨天”的时光之门。

If I could recommend only one book to understand China between 1985 and 2000, I would unhesitatingly choose French photographer Yann Layma‘s photography collection,China Yesterday. This is not a grand historical tome, yet it is more vivid and more real than any history book. With nearly 300 photographs, it opens a door to the “yesterday” of China.

一位法国人，用一生为中国做“影像人类学”

A Frenchman Devoted His Life to China’s “Visual Anthropology”

阎雷（Yann Layma），1962年生于法国布列塔尼。16岁时，他看到中国开始向外国人发放个人旅游签证的新闻，从此做了一个关于中国的梦。为了圆这个梦，他学习中文和摄影，1984年成为法国唯一获准自由进出爱丽舍宫为总统密特朗拍摄一年政坛生活的摄影师。然而第二年，22岁的他就毅然来到中国。此后40年，他拍摄了超过60万张照片，足迹遍布中国的每一个角落。

Yann Layma, born in 1962 in Brittany, France. At 16, he saw that China had begun issuing personal tourist visas to foreigners, and he had a dream about China. To realize this dream, he learned Chinese and photography. In 1984, he became the only photographer in France granted unrestricted access to the Élysée Palace to document President Mitterrand’s political life for a year. Yet the very next year, at 22, he resolutely came to China. Over the next 40 years, he took more than 600,000 photographs, covering every corner of China.

阎雷用行动践行了他的话：“我爱中国和中国文化，我想要继续在这个国家拍照，尽自己所能。四十多年来，这一直是我的人生选择，我从未后悔过。”2005年，他因中法文化交流的突出贡献被授予法国艺术与文学骑士勋章。

He has lived by his words: “I love China and Chinese culture, and I want to continue photographing this country, giving it my all. For over 40 years, this has been my life‘s choice, and I have never regretted it”. In 2005, for his outstanding contributions to Sino-French cultural exchange, he was awarded the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France.

一本书，两个时代，一场巨变

One Book, Two Eras, One Transformation

《昨天的中国》以阎雷的大型摄影集《中国》为底本，甄选并增补部分未公开发表的照片，聚焦1985年至2000年间的中国。全书收录近300张照片，2023年由贵州人民出版社出版全新增订珍藏版，新增百余张照片并优化版式编排。

China Yesterdayis based on Layma‘s larger collectionChina, featuring carefully selected and newly added previously unpublished photographs, focusing on China from1985 to 2000. The book contains nearly 300 photographs. The fully revised and expanded collector’s edition was published by Guizhou People‘s Publishing House in 2023, adding over a hundred new photos and improving the layout.

全书分为两辑：

The book is divided into two parts:

“昨天的故乡”：以地理风貌为主线，记录北京、上海、重庆、西安、桂林等地的城市与乡村景象

“昨天的我们”：以人文风俗为主线，聚焦劳作、买卖、路上风景、节庆文娱等日常瞬间

“Yesterday’s Homeland”: Focused on geographical landscapes, it captures the cities and countryside of Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xi‘an, Guilin, and more.

“Yesterday’s People”: Centered on cultural customs and daily life, it highlights moments of labor, trade, travel, festivals, and entertainment.

从北京长安街上浩浩荡荡的自行车洪流，到上海市民排队购买股票的场景；从重庆街头用扁担挑货的“棒棒”，到云南哈尼族梯田的壮丽风光；从北京大学宿舍里学生枕边堆满书籍，到乡村酒席上的欢声笑语——这些画面共同拼凑出转型期中国的完整肖像。

From the vast tide of bicycles on Beijing’s Chang‘an Avenue, to Shanghai citizens queuing to buy stocks; from the “bangbang” porters carrying goods on their shoulders in Chongqing, to the breathtaking terraced fields of the Hani people in Yunnan; from students’ dormitories at Peking University with books piled high beside their pillows, to the laughter and joy at village banquets — these images together compose a complete portrait of China in transition.

为什么值得读？——三个无法拒绝的理由

Why Should You Read It？ — Three Irresistible Reasons

1. 一个“外国人”视角下的“中国真实”

1. “Chinese Reality” Through a “Foreigner’s” Lens

阎雷的照片没有居高临下的猎奇，也没有刻意美化的滤镜。他拍的是普通人——田间劳作的农民、街边等活儿的工人、挤公交的市民、逛市场的孩子。正如他所说：“我不拍新闻，我也不拍政治的，我拍天天生活的方面”。这种平视的视角，让每一张照片都充满了温度与诚意。

Layma‘s photographs are neither condescendingly exotic nor artificially beautified. He photographed ordinary people — farmers working in the fields, workers waiting for jobs by the roadside, citizens cramming onto buses, children exploring the market. As he said: “I don’t shoot news, I don‘t shoot politics. I shoot the daily life”. This eye-level perspective gives every photograph warmth and sincerity.

有读者评价：“他是法国人，但他镜头下的人、场景，都是如此自然生动，没有他者眼光下的凝视感。”这正是阎雷最可贵之处——他不是在“拍摄中国”，而是在“记录生活”。

One reader commented: “He is French, but the people and scenes under his lens are so naturally vivid, without the sense of being observed by an outsider”. This is Layma’s greatest strength — he is not “photographing China,” but “recording life.”

2. 一个回不去的“昨天”，一种正在消失的记忆

2. A “Yesterday” That Can Never Return, a Memory That Is Fading

这本书最动人的力量，在于它记录了一个“回不去”的中国。正如阎雷在自序中所说：“这些照片为的是向45岁以上的中国人重现往昔，以及使更年轻的一代了解中国在经济繁荣前的样貌”。

The most moving power of this book lies in its documentation of a China that can never return. As Layma writes in his preface: “These photos are meant to revive the past for Chinese people over 45, and to help the younger generation understand what China looked like before its economic prosperity”.

80年代北京的“斯巴达式的诗意”——没有汽车的大街上，上演着自行车的芭蕾舞；90年代小镇上人们围着一台电视机；工厂里轰鸣的机器、集市上热闹的叫卖、婚礼上羞涩的新娘……这些场景正在从我们的记忆中消退。如果没有阎雷的照片，它们可能真的会被彻底遗忘。

The “Spartan poetry” of 1980s Beijing — boulevards devoid of cars, staging a ballet of bicycles; people in small towns gathered around a single television in the 1990s; the roar of factory machines, the bustling cries of markets, the shy brides at weddings… these scenes are fading from our memory. Without Layma’s photographs, they might be completely forgotten.

3. 一次高质量的视觉与收藏体验

3. A High-Quality Visual and Collectible Experience

2023年的增订珍藏版采用了12开超大开本，128克舒视雅印四色精细印刷，并经工厂反复调色校准。新版采用正方形开本，厚重温润，像一本经典的“咖啡馆读物”（Coffee table book）。每一张照片都拥有足够的留白与呼吸感，翻阅本身就是一次沉浸式的时光之旅。

The 2023 expanded collector‘s edition uses a 12-format oversized layout, 128-gram fine four-color printing, and repeated color calibration. The new square format is thick and weighty, like a classic coffee table book. Every photograph is given ample breathing room, making the act of flipping through the pages itself an immersive journey through time.

一扇通向昨天的窗

A Window to Yesterday

《昨天的中国》不仅是一本摄影集，更是一份关于时代变迁的珍贵档案。它用最朴素的视觉语言，记录了中国人从“昨天”走向“今天”的脚步。无论你是想重温记忆的中年人，还是想了解父辈青春的青年人，这本书都会让你在翻页之间，与那个既熟悉又陌生的“昨天”相遇。

China Yesterdayis not just a photography collection; it is a precious archive of a changing era. In the simplest visual language, it records the footsteps of the Chinese people as they walked from “yesterday” to “today.” Whether you are middle-aged and seeking to revisit your memories, or young and hoping to understand your parents‘ youth, this book will let you encounter that simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar “yesterday” with every page you turn.

正如一位读者所说：“开始的日子，剧变的日子，破颜的日子，未艾的日子。”而这些日子，都被阎雷的镜头，永远地保留了下来。

As one reader put it: “The days of beginnings, the days of upheaval, the days of awakening, the days of endless promise”. And these days have been forever preserved through Layma’s lens.

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