The HKUST Library and Division of Humanities jointly present

One of the most influential Chinese photographers of his generation, Sha Fei captured some of the most iconic images of wartime China from the late 1930s to the 1940s. His work reflects his deep humanism and his belief in the power of photography to awaken the people. Following his tragic execution in 1950, Sha Fei’s name was erased from history, only to be rediscovered in the 1980s.

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Thanks to his daughter Wang Yan’s generous donation, photographs in this exhibition illustrate Sha Fei’s extraordinary journey from a photo enthusiast in Shantou, Guangdong, to a Leftist photo-journalist in Shanghai, and finally to a war photographer and editor on the Jin-Cha-Ji war front in North China.

Sha Fei was born Situ Chuan in Guangzhou on May 5, 1912, several months after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. After graduating from a radio school in 1926, he volunteered for the National Revolutionary Army and participated in the Northern Expedition as a wireless operator. While working at the Shantou Radio Station between 1931 and 1936, he was influenced by Western pictorial magazines and became intensely interested in photography. His early images, while aesthetically modernist, were imbued with deep sympathy for working people and the weak in society.

Sha Fei joined the Shanghai-based “Black and White Photographic Society” in 1935 and studied Western painting at the Shanghai Art Academy in 1936.  In October of that year, he captured the final images of Lu Xun (11 days before Lu’s death) and rose to fame as a leading photo-journalist.

After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, Sha Fei went to the Shanxi frontlines in September to report on Chinese resistance. Buoyed by the Eighth Route Army’s victory at Pingxingguan, he joined the Communist-led force in December. In the ensuing months, he produced dozens of images of Chinese troops in action atop the ancient Great Wall—powerful symbols of national resistance. In 1942, in a Hebei valley without electricity, Sha Fei and his comrades founded the Jin-Cha-Ji Pictorial, the first Chinese-English magazine in Communist areas. He also trained a corps of photographers. During a Japanese attack in 1943, Sha Fei was wounded and nine others were killed trying to protect film negatives.

In the eight-year War of Resistance, Sha Fei took more than a thousand photos. These evocative images, rendered with emotional intensity and artistic rigor, documented enemy brutality, combat scenes, military training, mass mobilization, political participation, and the Nationalist-Communist United Front. He also recorded the activities of various foreigners in Communist base areas, including American military observers and rescued pilots; a British radio specialist; Canadian doctor Norman Bethune; Indian doctors; Korean nationalists; as well as Japanese prisoners of war. Some of his last works captured U.S. General George C. Marshall’s mediation effort to prevent the Civil War in early 1946.

Nearly all of Sha Fei’s photographs focus on people—mostly common people, including women and children—whose pain, fortitude, optimism, and dignity come alive through his lens. Remaining unfettered by Soviet rigidity or Maoist conformity, his images exude sympathy and spontaneity, striking a nuanced balance between artistry, authenticity, and propaganda.

Sha Fei belatedly joined the Party in 1942 and was repeatedly criticized for being “more like a democrat” than a Communist. Years of overwork, battle wounds, and political campaigns took their toll on his health. In May 1948, he was admitted to the hospital for tuberculosis and was never cured. Apparently suffering from mental illness, Sha Fei shot and killed his Japanese doctor in December 1949. A military court sentenced him to death. He was executed on March 4, 1950, five months after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Buried with him was a small metal box containing the negatives of Lu Xun.

“Although Sha Fei’s life stop-framed at age 38,” the late historian Gao Hua has suggested, “his death allowed him to eternally retain his authenticity.” As he had aspired when renaming himself, Sha Fei had “become a grain of sand forever flying free in the sky above his homeland.”

David Cheng CHANG, Assistant Professor of the Division of Humanities
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Officiating Guests

Ms Yan WANG, Donor, Daughter of Sha Fei
Prof Wei SHYY, Executive Vice-President & Provost, HKUST
Prof Billy SO, Head, Division of Humanities, HKUST
Prof David Cheng CHANG, Assistant Professor, Division of Humanities, HKUST
Ms Diana CHAN, University Librarian, HKUST

Guided tours will be led by HKUST students enrolled on the academic program HUMA 4000H “Picturing History: Photographers and the Making of Modern China”.

Putonghua

• 5 April 2017, 12:00 noon -12:45 pm
• 11 April 2017, 12:00 noon -12:45 pm
• 25 April 2017, 12:00 noon -12:45 pm
• 26 April 2017, 12:00 noon -12:45 pm

Cantonese

• 5 April 2017, 12:30 pm -1:15 pm
• 19 April 2017, 12:30 pm -1:15 pm
• 25 April 2017, 12:30 pm -1:15 pm
• 26 April 2017, 12:30 pm -1:15 pm

English

• 11 April 2017, 12:30 pm -1:15 pm
• 19 April 2017, 12:00 noon -12:45 pm

Participants Comments

• 提供更多背景資料予參觀者
• A place where the tour guide can speak louder
• Cover all photos instead of selected ones
• Nice tour guide
• I forgot to ask about his name, but the male guide was great, amazingly knowledgeable and he shared a great amount of super interesting details and stories! Fantastic. Having someone being so familiar with the topic makes a huge difference. Suggestions is hard, everyone may have different preferences. I definitely will join for modern history, especially photo exhibitions. I personally appreciate having more info than what is posted next to the picture. having the QR codes with additional pictures was a great idea, that could also be used to provide more background info for the visitors.
• I hope there would be more events like this in the library. You know it is rarely to have a photo exhibition like this in Hong Kong
• Great job. Thank you all!

Students enrolled on the Course “HUMA4000H Picturing History: Photographers and the Making of Modern China” are required to study the exhibits of this Exhibition and write a short paper individually on a photograph by Sha Fei.  The following are some of the best papers:

Lu Xun at the Second National Traveling Woodcut Exhibition by Rebecca Ha
Distributing Steamed Buns to the Families of New Recruits by Tiffany Ip
General Nie Rongzhen and Japanese Orphan Mihoko by Steven Kwong
Anti-Mopping-Up Battles in Beiyue (Northern Shanxi and Hebei) by Hester Law
Three Young Heroes in the Second Heroes Conference of the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region (in Chinese) by Fiona Tsui
Making Copperplate for the Inaugural Issue of the Jin-Cha-Ji Pictorial (in Chinese) by Jessica Wong
Fighting on the Great Wall by Winnie Wu