From Ancestral Halls to Living Rooms: The Transformation of Domestic Portrait Spaces and the Making of Family Modernity in China (1920–1990)

From 1920 to 1990, China's family portrait spaces underwent a shift from ancestral halls to living rooms, reflecting state power penetration, lineage disintegration, family restructuring, and individual awakening. Based on oral histories, photographic archives, studio records, and housing research, this study integrates Lefebvre's theory of the production of space and Foucault's power genealogy to analyze this transformation. The study identifies three stages driven by power reconfiguration, revealing a distinctive Chinese family modernity characterized by state leadership, traditional residues, and individual awakening. This research provides a new visual-spatial perspective for interpreting family modernity and social transformation in modern China.