A Later Banned Set of Photos Sent Shockwaves Through Chinese Netizens Favorite 

A Chinese Independent Photographer, Xiyouxiu (Twitter ID@xiuxiukong) published a set of photos called "Father" on both Chinese social platforms like Weibo and Little Red Book, and international platforms like twitter.

At the beginning of the story being told by the set of photos, A girl, wearing spaghetti strap dress with red floral print on it, is doing everyday things like washing hair in a basic house in Chinese rural area. However, after moving to the next stage of the photo, the girl is using a hoe to kill her father, and her white dress has been dyed by the blood into red. At the last stage of the set of photos, the girl is holding a shovel to bury her dead father, and her smile is focused and her half slip disappeared.

After Xiyouxiu published her work on Chinese platforms, it received tens of thousands of retweets and likes on Weibo, and there were also intense discussions on other platforms. Some said this set of photo is creative and impactful, and Xiyouxiu is brave because she is criticizing patriarchy in China. Chinese countryside, houses, labor tools, household goods…are all familiar to most of Chinese people. This can more easily resonate with Chinese netizens. However, others said all her works, including “Father”, have similar cores, only creating a decadent and misanthropic style, with no innovation.

After her photos went viral on Chinese social platforms, as Chinese netizens predicted, her works were deleted from the platforms and her accounts were blocked. Xiyouxiu expressed her sadness and anger, and made posts on twitter on June 21st, 2023, and said, “My six accounts on Chinese social platforms were inactivated. I’ll never use Weibo again. That’s it. My Little Red Book account was banned for a month. Mainland does not welcome me. ”

On July 13th, 2023, Xiyouxiu post a twitter, “The last few days I’ve heard something sorrow, which made me believe the set of "Father" is too soft. I even think it's not painful enough; not brutal enough; not violent enough, and even not powerful enough. Because the reality is much more cruel than the story I wrote.”