Is the Happiest Man in China Photo Real or Fake?

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In this video:

For much of the early history of photography smiling in photographs was almost unheard of for various reasons. (See: When Did People Start Smiling in Photographs?) Despite this, a photo of a Chinese man, dubbed by the masses on the internet, “the happiest man in China”, occasionally makes the rounds purporting to be of a 19th century Chinese man who unabashedly displays a wide, toothy grin for the camera. This, in addition to the man’s remarkably photogenic appearance and near flawless smile, has naturally led many to dismiss the photo as fake- seemingly just a picture someone recently took and digitally touched up to appear like a photo from the 19th or early 20th centuries. So is the “happiest man in China” photo a fake and who is the smiling man?

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Image Credit:

https://www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
https://www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
https://www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
https://www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

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