Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Tea carriers of Sichuan, 1920s


tea carrier, originally uploaded by mutikonka.

Before the arrival of motor transport this was how goods were carried around in rural Sichuan and Yunnan. These porters would carry 80-90 pounds on their backs for many hours of the day. hence the term coolie/ku-li (bitter strength).

2 comments:

ralphrepo said...

Tea Carriers of Sichuan 1920s was actually made by Ernest Henry Wilson on 30 JUL 1907. The correct title is Men laden with tea and it is stored in Harvard University's Permanent collection. It can be easily found using their VIA Record search system, using both Wilson's name and "tea" as search terms. Regards.

ralphrepo said...

LOL, that's 30 JUL 1908 (not 1907), Regards.