Cette photo a été prise à proximité du centre funéraire Longhua à Shanghai. Sur la pancarte, il est indiqué que cet homme propose toutes sortes d’articles et de services funéraires. Il ne s’agit pas forcément là d’une photo qui illustre parfaitement ce que signifie le « travail » en Chine, mais je l’ai sélectionnée car elle illustre bien la décontraction voire la nonchalance que l’on trouve chez certains travailleurs indépendants (个体户) ou chez les personnes qui ont une activité professionnelle dans des secteurs économiques plus ou moins informels.

EFEO_BELM00005

Je l’ai rencontré, ce paysan tibétain dont j’ai oublié le nom mais dont le souvenir est resté intact dans sa sincérité. Il avait 20 ans, le même âge que moi. Sauf qu’il élevait déjà une famille tandis que je ne faisais que voyager et étudier dans l’insouciance de la jeunesse.

EFEO_BAYA00005

Les maîtres et les apprentis travaillent sur la typographie des livres avec des caractères mobiles en plomb.

EFEO_HUAW00005

The end of September is a period that is particularly busy in this area. Farmers spend the day harvesting rice crops, most of which are sold on the spot. They also hang corn from balconies to dry.  Fields are well irrigated by the Longxi River. The town has an elaborated layout based on the principles of fengshui. It reflects the socioeconomic structure of the Ming and Qing dynasties, when wealthy Hui merchants (Huishang) returned to their hometowns and left their legacy printed on the streets and buildings. This will probably be the last generation of farmers in the Huangshan area to cultivate the land in the traditional ways. The city is flourishing again with the arrival of tourists, who flock to the Yellow Mountain, the area’s main attraction. Although the younger generations benefit from the tourist boom, by working in the service sector, this is not the case for the older ones, whose lives are alien to this transformation. Apart from tourism, new regulations dealing with land rights guarantee longer and more stable tenures, thus setting up a framework for the establishment of larger farms and the mechanization of agriculture. The aim of the prohibition concerning land readjustments during the tenure period is to stimulate long-term investments in the land, as well as to increase the number of leases. While this may be a likely scenario in Huang Shan, it may not be the case in other rural areas of China, where there is no tourist industry. In many places, farmers still advocate land readjustments in cases involving changes in demographics, for example, or to recover land leased out after agricultural taxes were abolished and therefore no longer representing a heavy financial burden. This has led to a failure to enforce the law in some cases, causing numerous conflicts and paving the way for new sources of grievance for farmers. If land readjustments hoped to ensure equal land distribution among farmers, the prohibition to readjust during the 30 years of tenure will undoubtedly put an end to this socialist aspiration. Perhaps this situation simply reflects the presence of two different social realities in rural China:  those who benefit from economic development and embrace free market policies, and those who are left behind and still believe in the socialist principles they were brought up with.

EFEO_ELUM00009

Le nettoyage des racines de lotus dans la rivière.

EFEO_CAPC00005