Today is Children’s Day in China. And so it is appropriate that a collection of the supposed first colour photos of Nanjing featuring the faces of young ones from more than 75 years ago is today doing the rounds on social media.
今天是中国的儿童节。因此，一组所谓的南京第一张彩色照片，其中有 75 多年前的年轻人的面孔，今天在社交媒体上流传也是很合适的。
Technology is wonderful, especially when it connects us with that before its own very existence. Embodying that concept is an official WeChat account dedicated to bringing photographs of the Nanjing of old to the increasingly younger generations who have no recollection thereof.
技术是美妙的，尤其是当它在它诞生之前就将我们与它联系起来时。体现这一理念的是一个官方微信账号，致力于将南京老照片带给越来越年轻的无记忆的一代。
The account in question is “Nanjing Old Photographs” (南京老照片). Find it via a search of “Official Accounts” in your WeChat.
该账号为“南京老照片”。通过微信搜索“公众号”即可找到。
Fittingly for today, among its recent highlights is the alleged first colour image of Nanjing ever found. It was taken by a Major Martin William Hiller of the United States Air Force stationed in Shanghai. Said photo is of a child.
与今天相称的是，其最近的亮点之一是据称发现的第一张南京彩色图像。这张照片是由驻上海的美国空军少校马丁·威廉·希勒拍摄的。所说的照片是一个孩子。
According to Nanjing Old Photographs, Miller was born in Iowa in 1913. Graduating from Iowa State University, majoring in agricultural engineering, Miller joined the military in 1936, in first the United States Army Air Forces, then the Air Force. After World War II, he was stationed in Shanghai from 1945 to 1948.
据南京老照片显示，米勒1913年出生于爱荷华州，毕业于爱荷华州立大学农业工程专业，1936年入伍，先是在美国陆军航空队，后在空军服役。 After World War II, he was stationed in 上海 from 1945 to 1948.
Miller loved photography and left behind tens of thousands of photographs and many film reels. It is thought that the photos of Nanjing were taken by Miller and his wife, Margaret, during a visit to Nanjing in May of 1946.
米勒热爱摄影，留下了数万张照片和许多胶卷。据认为，这些南京照片是米勒和他的妻子玛格丽特 1946 年 5 月访问南京时拍摄的。
Also dating from a little thereafter are other past visual delights of the city we call home today. Horse-drawn carriages on Zhongshan Dong Lu seem more appealing than today’s ubiquitous Didi. A hoarding outside the Capital Cinema advertising the incoming Joan Crawford blockbuster, “Mildred Pierce”, is enough to want to download the movie today.
此后不久，我们今天称之为家乡的城市还出现了其他过去的视觉享受。中山东路上的马车似乎比现在随处可见的滴滴更有吸引力。首都电影院外的一块广告牌，为即将上映的琼·克劳馥大片《米尔德里德·皮尔斯》做广告，足以让你今天就想下载这部电影。
Many of the account’s other photos appear to be concentrated in the 1980s, a period with particular appeal to a wide swathe of the local populace.
该帐户的许多其他照片似乎都集中在 20 世纪 80 年代，这个时期对广大当地民众特别有吸引力。
That all said, The Nanjinger has been looking at the account off and on for a few months now and has noticed on occasion the use of copyrighted images, which does put a bit of a dent in the account’s credibility.
话虽如此，《南京人》几个月来一直在断断续续地关注该账户，并注意到有时使用受版权保护的图像，这确实对该账户的可信度造成了一些影响。
Nevertheless, Nanjing Old Photos remains a great use of 21st century social media that can help better inform and educate today’s younger Nanjinger as to some of the pivotal periods in their city’s history.
尽管如此，南京老照片仍然是21世纪社交媒体的一个重要用途，它可以帮助今天的年轻南京人更好地了解和教育他们城市历史上的一些关键时期。
