A black-and-white news photograph shows rows of Zhang Zuolin’s troops standing behind open freight wagons in Tianjin while workers and other figures occupy the foreground.

c. 1920–1925 · Glass-plate negative

Part of Chang Tso-Lin’s Army, Tientsin

Bain News Service

Why it matters

The Bain caption identifies the formation through Zhang Zuolin rather than through a national army. For an overseas news audience, the crowded negative made republican fragmentation visible as armed men, personal command, rail infrastructure, and contested urban space.

Publication
George Grantham Bain news photograph
Holding institution
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Shelfmark
LC-B2-5607-15; LC-DIG-ggbain-33489
Rights
No known restrictions on publication

Bain News Service. Part of Chang Tso-Lin’s Army, Tientsin, c. 1920–1925. Glass negative. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-33489.