Black Soil Cannot Answer Me I was born in Heilongjiang Province, located in the northeastern part of China. Every time winter approaches, the distant northwest monsoon brings cold air to this plain, covering the black soil with ice and snow. The tall chimneys of collectively heated buildings in the city emit black smoke, and the air is filled with the smell of coal ash. The black soil marks the beginning of this story. This region is China's borderland, neighboring Russia and North Korea. People from other areas collectively refer to Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, and Liaoning Province as the Northeast region. Throughout its long history, this place has been inhabited by ethnic minorities, with sparsely populated and vast uninhabited areas. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that a large number of people from Shandong migrated here to cultivate the land due to resource competition, bringing agricultural civilization to this region. Through voluntary immigration and long-term integration, the border areas formed immigrant communities with a cultural characteristic of individualism higher than other regions. Groups of immigrants with common goals developed a culture that was institutionalized and passed on norms and beliefs to others and the next generation. The unique natural conditions and frontier politics make people under collectivism here have a distinct self-independence different from other regions, creating a complex contradiction. Oil, steel, and coal mines are gifts of the black soil. From the late Qing Dynasty to the early 20th century, it took only a few decades for immigrants to transform this uninhabited area into one of China's most important grain-producing regions. In 1949, with a shift in the country's development goals, the Northeast Black Soil Plain transitioned from an agricultural hub to a heavy industrial area. Oil, steel, and coal mines provided the conditions for the region's industrial development, making the Northeast a significant industrial base in China. Intensive collective labor led to the formation of public spaces and institutional foundations centered around state-owned factories, transforming the farmers living on this land into the working class and creating a distinct collective consciousness shaped by systematic training. The Northeast has always been a passive participant in history. In the 1990s, China's economic system shifted from a planned economy to a market economy. The reform of state-owned factories led to massive layoffs, and many workers faced the risk of unemployment, resulting in a wave of job losses. They faced the societal transformation with confusion, as the welfare benefits and lifelong worker status they once took pride in as employees of state-owned factories became history. They experienced tremendous psychological disparity, drifting into a state of uncertainty and self-hypnosis. It was a time of collective desolation, a trauma for the Northeast. Black soil cannot answer me. As descendants of the Northeast, we also feel the powerlessness of individual fate in the face of historical changes. They are pushed by the tide of marketization, popularization, and urbanization. The descendants who have also experienced the pain of the Northeast place a much higher value on a stable life than the pursuit of wealth. The elite selection model and social operation methods of contemporary society make them more concerned about the flow of power. Through intense competition, they become employees within the government system. People living here attempt to counterbalance the absurdity of reality and the subtle indoctrination through self-deprecating humor. Many have also chosen to leave. The strict implementation of the family planning policy has led to an extremely low birth rate, and the outflow of population has made the Northeast the most severely declining region in terms of population growth in the country. This project was created after I left my hometown and returned to the Northeast several years later. After leaving my hometown, I have constantly pondered how the Northeast has shaped my understanding of identity and belonging. This project aims to convey the unique cultural atmosphere and social background of the Northeast through photography, depicting the bond and emotional entanglement between myself and this land. It explores the influence of spaces on interpersonal relationships, as well as the roles of traces of life, subtle indoctrination, and collective memory within them.