In the Red

{
  "type": "gallery",
  "attrs": {
    "title": "Something"
  },
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1440,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19963",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/kVn2yn8CAw9TFLBV7jxMtVxnUR3uEeFhUGB1v7Q5T6DKDWzZkUzRSyRt40JfBy42HYzG4jK1e7p1m-0ThXZd_oZrqRYnb4QgVQ2Z3A=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A large metal steamer prepares buns for lunch at Xu’s relatives’ house, to celebrate the birth of the newest family member. A typical household in China may have small steamers made of bamboo for the same purpose.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19962",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/3YnvFCvz5bBRTaXPhdnqHYBrAAtFoiRdDsBngNGCOBb_n8HAGiz2euooHaDCyXrc1AzXvlHDba8ozMLswcDJqgHbz1MHytZdP5niNw=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A pulveriser churns out rice flour. Xu’s mother often told her that what villagers grew and made at home was far better than what was available in the city.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19968",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/LU_2jer9IHQqeEVVSeINfG9UpNTXuMV-uCzBLbJi3ooEUGd_EDbZCpgJpZlAG5mHTnLS9bBTnG2Q2ZhNjkyolo_d2XtwB-nVu7GsRg=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Relatives and friends arrive and gather at the doorway before the lunch begins. The elders perpetually wore an anxious look, as if a little annoyed.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19969",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/1PheQjrGTreRcKpD8VNItjAPqkSHEPDFCmQe4y07EvZ7gpMicbXyEWMzJDEipWKPHt00t6iQkHuxoFkm-67xqK-At3UgeB7obFbJzqk=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A poster of Mao Zedong hangs in the living room.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1440,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19961",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/zJ9pgRpp4QT7sXeSasEY_J55ruUwzr-JNuMhYBvuNsRj1N2TY7r8umYs12m-syjynxL0SiWJ9ryFkbZf5LqN-CYag20MdNMjK94jO1I=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Every time Lidan Xu visited her extended family, they would make her the traditional old-hen soup.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19960",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/q2O1vTnWGNC45-gPZys3dlsAffb4-3eRZg8Yb7Q4Rw41AzJhaaDtcC1nWSMv5SlKRWzCZtMq_A05rYpm40Dt98QnfIMf8_J5tG-y6Ls=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A ",
              "type": "text"
            },
            {
              "text": "húlu",
              "type": "text",
              "marks": [
                {
                  "type": "em"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "text": "—calabash or bottle gourd—placed by a window in the house as a charm, symbolising fertility and health.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19972",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/HV7n8pdEQBGV1Dz49LHyA48nfcTdHsFBGBOKW5Wc846LR-hKwLHt2AwuID7h9a1HHeYUmg_zJ61JQMkdIAGJR527vxPcfyBG-11HNwtz=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A mass of overgrown weeds photographed while on the trail back from the graves of Xu’s grandparents.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19964",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/LwEQVC2Q3SIZz8dbYkxOjl_fHtINxFyGi7DB9_GSQIC9ppRmLDH-ZhQVYczZphrB3szpOpXfgr9pGBKmaakAM2kSV9-W_3UjksJQn3s=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Red tablecloths, stools and tableware packs. Red is a revered colour when it comes to celebrating joyful occasions in Chinese culture.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19965",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/OPbF-2YmVxIAX5itd7rj6f6ZmKm6-oyKmCycbTKoZhFOxUqlls-rZktoh3RUjeDc_yskXGIqRipLTA5oSISc-9a4-OdB70vnH3WvqA=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Bowls for the lunch. With many guests, each table needed a dozen or so of these bowls. The preparation that goes into these feasts takes a lot of effort. Guests pay close attention to what is served and tend to make judgements based on the variety of food.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 999,
        "w": 1500,
        "id": "19967",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/IY8SBeGchP3iY0YgR0Xsnvz43_dtzzwLbIHMjt9NACgPkxD4zCqyWWBoC_lwDzIXIHraYkC39jehd51xvU4PX-bj1MeTPmi8LKgPrbFy=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "A niece of Xu eats out in the back, as a friend watches.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19971",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/E39oWU7seGymSOxj_Pp7h8Yq6X0cNEnj_KjU66QjGG6Bj619eaLM0oVgz5D9rav-1OnFJhx-yGn29t3mCguoJ3A-60Ab7X3lmxeaox10=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Joss paper—ancestor or ghost money—burns among the weeds. It is part of a ritual offering to wish the deceased a good afterlife.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 999,
        "w": 1500,
        "id": "19970",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ydrv8DFHtYEFqCliIWK6LdHn_ep5MM1wqW2g560NYHkV2cO9am2StA6fv09CzXN6JZLzJf6CP0jXy99IlCfz1i709DqzMywFlpiqX5E=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Rice plants growing in front of three graves. Vegetables, too, are grown in the large open space near the headstones.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "figure",
      "attrs": {
        "h": 1622,
        "w": 1080,
        "id": "19966",
        "src": "//lh3.googleusercontent.com/FBNcUzX_xmbXsLwLzZCEakZOjB4fdGc167DOgJ5TASeq1sFCHSiXsN1FeLXBG5EyJ8f_IDfznPcRRb8Se_zXWiywCYw_lf-b78Xko78=s0"
      },
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "caption",
          "content": [
            {
              "text": "Xu photographs her niece who appears to be frowning.",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "credit"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

In the dialect of Mandarin spoken in Tianmen, a region in central China’s Hubei province, there is a single word to refer to one’s niece or nephew: zhí ér. When the photographer Lidan Xu visited her maternal relatives in the countryside, in 2020, she was given an invitation to attend the birth celebration of the newest family member, her zhí ér.

The family lived on the Jianghan Plain, in the Tianmen hinterland. Born and raised in Xiaogan, a city in the same province, Xu eventually left home to attend university in Shanghai, and later moved to Japan for further studies. Her visits home are no longer frequent, and she has limited contact with her extended family.