"Old Beijing Narrative Hutong Streets and Alleys", edited by Li Xiaohong, edited by Qi Liang, Beijing Publishing House, January 2021 edition.
The Dashilan area has been a business district for more than 600 years
Dashilar Street was called the Four Corridor Houses in the Ming Dynasty. Langfang means shops along the street, since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Dashilar area has been full of merchants, very prosperous. The "Collection of Hutongs in the Five Cities of The Beijing Division" records that there are langfang headlines, two gallery houses, three gallery houses and four gallery houses outside the front door, of which four gallery houses are now Dashilan Street. Written in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the "Yulu of Dreams of Chunming" mentions the name of Dashilar, and the "Jingshifang Lane Chronicle" compiled during the Guangxu period no longer mentions the four langfangs, but is renamed Dashilan Hutong, and the Qing Dynasty's "Qianlong Capital City Complete Map" also sets the name as "Dashilar".
The "fence" is a wooden plank row created to protect merchants from thieves. The "History of the Ming Palace" records that in the first year of Emperor Xiaozong's reign (1488), Wang Minsong of the Hundred Households of the Four-Nine Cities asked Emperor Xiaozong to prevent the arrest of thieves from chasing after the streets and alleys, and the thieves were easy to hide, and proposed to set up a fence at the intersection of the alleys, close them at night, and send troops to guard them. In this way, the security situation in the city will be greatly improved. The Qing Dynasty continued the practice of the Ming Dynasty, widening the fence, and by 1730, during the Yongzheng period, a strict city gate opening and closing system was implemented, and fence boards were added to the streets and alleys of the outer city of the Beijing Division.
In the Qing Dynasty's "Cases of the Decree of the Qing Dynasty", it is recorded that in the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), 440 fences were approved for the construction of outer city fences, 1919 inner city fences and 196 inner fences were approved in the eighteenth year of Qianlong (1753), and by the time of Qianlong, more than 2400 fences had been built in the inner and outer cities of the Beijing Division. Many fences have their own street characteristics, but also well protect the safety of merchants, all kinds of chicken and dog theft has been greatly reduced. Among them, the merchants of the four corridors were rich and powerful, and in order to prevent thieves, they paid a lot of money, and built the fence to be the tallest and strongest, and the grandeur was momentary, so it was named "Dashilar".
Dashilar (1956)
The current Dashilar area has a history of more than 600 years as a commercial circle, dating back to the Yuan Dynasty, forming a scale in the Ming Dynasty, and developing and prospering after the Qing Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan moved the capital to Beijing, and now the Dashilar is located outside the main gate of the Yuandadu Zhengnanli (now Zhengyang Gate), located on the outskirts of the city, with many garden temples, and is also a place of entertainment for hundreds of officials in the culture and martial arts, and the southern merchants sent goods to the YuanDadu through the Grand Canal, landed outside the city gate, built sheds on the spot, loaded and unloaded the storage goods, and gradually formed a street market, forming the predecessor of today's Dashilan Diagonal Street.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing and built the Forbidden City based on the Yuan capital. As the southern city walls moved south, the area where the present Dashilar was located had to enter the inner city. Ming Chengzu re-dredged the canal to realize the transportation of grain from the south to the north, and then moved a large number of people from the south to live here, taking advantage of the time and place and the People of Dashilar to prosper day by day. In the area where the four hutongs called Langfang between the present-day Xie Street and Zhengyang Gate are located, the shops are lined up one after another, the store market is like a store, many former shop owners operate, and the back shop is a workshop, becoming the most prosperous commercial block in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty's "Dumen Miscellaneous Songs" wrote, "The painting buildings are lined with expectations, and the golden splendor is strong. After the pipe rested and the people were quiet, the bells rang out all over the street."
Dashilar is not only prosperous in commerce, it is also a center of entertainment. To the south of Dashilar is a Jingyun Garden, the birthplace of Chinese Peking Opera. During the Qianlong Jiaqing period, the Beijing stage Kun, Jing and Qin were three-legged, and the four major emblem classes successively entered Beijing and settled in the hutongs of Dashilar, carrying forward their tradition of absorbing the strengths of all, learning from each other and integrating with each other, and eventually forming Peking Opera.
Historically, there have been five major theater buildings located on Dashilan Street: Qingyuan, Sanqingyuan, GuangdeLou, Guangheyuan, and Tongyuan. Among them, the Guangde Building, located at No. 39 Dashilan Street and built in the first year of Jiaqing (1796), still exists today, and is now the Guangde Lou Theater Garden of Guo Degang Deyun Society. At that time, Cheng Changgeng, Mei Qiaoling, Yu Sansheng, Wang Guifen and other famous artists performed here. Whenever a famous character appears, Dashilan Street is flooded.
Dashilan Street (1939)
Also worth mentioning in Dashilan Street is Daguanlou, the first cinema in Beijing, an antique building with a plaque that reads "Birthplace of Chinese Cinema." Ren Qingtai, the treasurer of Daguanlou, made a request to the Peking Opera master Tan Xinpei to make Dingjun Mountain into a movie, and China's first film came into being in Daguanlou. Walking into the Grand View Building, what comes into view is a group of old photos, including Ruan Lingyu, Zhou Xuan, Hu Die... Let people recall the unique style of the earliest stars in our country, as well as those old movies that have made countless people crazy, moved by it, and shed tears for it...
Dashilar is full of centuries-old famous shops. Old Beijing likes to slip along, "ma juyuan on the head, inline liters on the feet, wearing eight big xiang, waist wrapped around the four big heng", Ma Juyuan, inline liter, eight big xiang, four big heng are the merchant silver number of Dashilar. There is also a similar shopping recipe, "shoes buy inline liter, hat buy ma Juyuan, buy Rui Xiang, tea buy Zhang Yiyuan, pickle six biju, movie Daguanlou, dim sum Zheng Ming Zhai, needle and thread long and thick ..." Most of these shops are on Dashilan Street.
In addition to these famous shops, Dashilan also has many long-established brands: in the south there are Changsheng Kui Fruit Dried Shop, Dong Zhao Kui Hat Shop, Tianhui Zhai Snus Shop, north juqing Zhai TianJia Old Shop, Yufeng Tobacco Shop, Yi Pin Zhai Shoe Shop, Yun Xiang Ge Xiang Wax Shop, Zi Lan Zhai Pastry Shop, and so on. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, a large number of foreign shops with imported products emerged in Dashilar, such as Yimin Pharmacy, Xizhen Pharmacy, Huamei Pharmacy, European and American Pharmacy, Lao Deji Pharmacy, etc. Guangshengxing, which specializes in foreign products, is famous for selling "Double Sister Flower Dew".
There is also a famous shop in Dashilan Street that must be mentioned: Tongrentang. The old medical center, which opened in 1669 during the Kangxi Dynasty, still enjoys a prestigious reputation today. Mr. Le Fengming proposed that "although the concoction is complicated, it does not dare to save labor, and although the taste is expensive, it does not dare to reduce the material resources", which has become the pharmaceutical principle of Tongrentang, and the integrity spirit of the merchants that is shown in it is also full of respect for today's people.
Finally, let's talk about Rui Feixiang, which also has the spirit of integrity of traditional Chinese merchants and is known as the first of the "Eight Great Xiangs". Rui Feng Xiang was founded by Meng Chuanshan. Meng Chuanshan, the founder of Qian Xiangyi, Meng Yuxi, is a native of the old military town of Zhangqiu, Shandong. The "worm" is a legendary insect that resembles a cicada. Meng Chuanshan's name Rui Feng Xiang is an auspicious meaning of borrowing "green ants to pay back money".
In 1900, the Eight-Power Alliance invaded, the Boxers under the banner of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the yangs", ignited the Old Deji Pharmacy that sold foreign medicines, because the shops at that time were wooden structures, the fire spread quickly, and the Dashilan became a "fire alley", which was described as "a lively scene in front of the Dashilar, a torch of Xianyang for no reason". "Rui Feng Xiang" was also burned to rubble in this fire. Merchants suffered heavy losses, and customers who had placed orders were also anxious and rushed to the scene.
Dashilar Rui Feng Xiang (1941)
In the face of chaos, Meng Xiaohou, the treasurer of Rui Fengxiang, announced a decision that all the money owed by Rui Fengxiang to customers would be returned, and all the money owed by customers to Rui Fengxiang would be written off. To this end, Meng urgently allocated 160,000 taels of funds from all over the country and gathered them in Beijing. The fire burned out tens of thousands of taels of silver assets, and he had to take out another 160,000 taels to compensate customers, and Rui Fengxiang did his best to pay customers, which caused a huge sensation in Beijing City, and there was a reputation for a while. Just a year later, Rui Feixiang's glittering sign was re-hung on Dashilan Street. The fire is real gold, and rui xiang's conscience of the industry, like the ancient street of Dashilar Street, is passed down from generation to generation and stretches endlessly...
Persuasion Field:
One of the earliest comprehensive shopping malls in old Beijing
Langfang Toutiao is located in the west of Qianmen Avenue Road, west to Coal Market Street, and is a place for merchants from all over the world to stay and gather in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. In the past, the headlines of the gallery house had the reputation of "lamp street", according to the "Old Beijing Trivia": "The old collection of the lamp market was in the east and west of the four arches, and then the headlines of the corridor house were moved." ”
In ancient times, lanterns were indispensable lighting tools for daily life, played a pivotal role in the daily life of the people, and were essential for night travel. Both the business sign and the mansion are required for illumination at night, and the magnificent lanterns can also decorate the atmosphere and show the identity of the owner. From the Changxin Palace lamp in the Qin and Han Dynasties to the oil-paper lantern later, various forms are also various. Langfang toutiao lantern shop has a long history, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 20 lantern shops located here, of which Wensheng Zhai is the most famous.
At that time, Wenshengzhai mainly made palace lamps for the palace and various yarn lamps for the royal palace and wealthy merchants. Generally with bamboo wood or metal as a frame, paste with gauze, coated with fish scale glue, so that the lamp is transparent and not airtight, the lamp is burned with candles. This kind of lamp, in the late Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China, is mostly hung at the door of the royal palace and the big household, which is very grand, and when night falls, it is red and warm, bright as day. In 1915, The Lantern of Wensheng Zhai participated in the Panama International Exposition and won two gold medals. The eight red lanterns in the Tiananmen Tower at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and the red gauze lanterns hanging in the Great Hall of the People with a diameter of nearly 4 meters on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1959 were all made by Wenshengzhai.
Langfang Toutiao No. 17 was once home to one of the first comprehensive shopping malls in Beijing, the Persuasion Field, and now between Baohengxiang Jindian and No. 19 Store is its former location. In the thirty-first year of Guangxu (1905), the Ministry of Commerce of the Qing government set up the "Jingshi Persuasion Exhibition Center" in Langfang Toutiao, mainly to exhibit industrial products from all over the world, while selling some goods. In the Republic of China era, it was changed to a commodity exhibition hall, and in 1928, it was renamed the National Goods Exhibition Hall of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and in 1936, it was renamed Beijing Persuasion Field.
During the Republic of China period, Beijing Persuasion Field was listed together with Dong'an Market in Wangfujing, shoushan first floor in Caishikou, and Qingyun Pavilion on Guanyin Temple Street as the four major shopping malls in Beijing. Shen Liyuan, the first batch of architects studying abroad in modern China, presided over the design and construction of the Beijing Persuasion Field. Mr. Chen Zongfan described the Beijing Persuasion Field this way: "The floors are open, the department stores are lined up, and the so-called so-called colorful and fascinating. The Xuannan Hongxue Tuzhi also made a detailed description of the interior of the Beijing Persuasion Field, saying that it was one of the largest large-scale comprehensive shopping malls in Beijing at that time.
Persuasion field once led the business trend in Beijing. For the first time, modern facilities such as van elevators, playgrounds, and open-door stores have been installed. There are 4 floors in the persuasion field, the first floor sells daily necessities, the books in the book stall here are different from other places, mainly "On the Essence of Discourse", "The Complete Book of Rulers" and other application books; the second floor sells cultural relics and special arts goods, as well as Su Xiang embroidery and several portrait halls, portrait painters are Wang Meiyuan, Jia Molin and others, the large film star portraits hanging at the door, such as Hu Die, Yuan Meiyun, etc.; the third floor has several photo studios, barberneries, tooth settings, advertising agencies, as well as marble rooms, table tennis clubs, etc., which are brilliantly lit at night and laugh endlessly; the fourth floor is a call The small theater of "Silla Tian" often performs commentaries.
The amusement field of Beijing Persuasion Field used to be the stage for everyone with famous actors, and it was the place where Ye Delin (stage name Dong Gua) played the funny drum, Guo Xiaoxia said plum blossom drum, Hao Shouchen sang the hook face, and Lian Kuoru said the commentary. Silla Tian was performed by HongQiaolan and others during the day, and at night Liu Baoquan said Jingyun big drum, and comic actor Han Langen starred in the drama "Minister Chincha" there.
There is also a long-established restaurant in Langfang Toutiao, which is the Datong Gold Store that opened in the seventh year of Qing Tongzhi (1868). From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Datong Gold Stores almost monopolized the gold market in Beijing. Later, tianbao and Sanyang two big gold stores also opened in the headlines of the gallery.
Lantern street, persuasion field, as well as gold shop, the republic of China period gallery headlines, commercial prosperity, crowds bustling, not lively.
The door frame alley of the snack bar is not big,
But each has its own unique skills
The door frame alley got its name from the Guangxu period, this alley is not large, about 100 meters long, and only about three meters wide in the middle. And it connects the Langfang Toutiao and the Langfang Four (Dashilan Street), which is an important commercial area in the Qing Dynasty. There is a clear record in the "Guangxu Shun tianfu chronicle": "There is a large fence, and there are small hutongs called door frame hutongs." At that time, the merchants worshipped the god of wealth and raised funds to build a Buddha building for the god of wealth in this alley, commonly known as the "street building". Two large stone slabs are erected on the east and west walls of this building, and several thick stone slabs are crossed on two large stone slabs, and the Buddhist building is erected on it. From the north and south, the street building resembles a door frame, which is named "door frame alley". The name continued to be used during the Republic of China, and it has remained so far to this day.
Door Frame Alley (1975)
Speaking of door frame hutongs, the most famous is its snacks, which are not large in scale, but they are the most famous snack streets in the Republic of China. The snack bars in the door frame alley are not large, but they all have their own characteristics and unique skills. Listen to the names of these snacks: Poplar, Pie Lu, Fried Liu, Tofu Brain White, Sheep's Head Horse, Cheese Wei, Stir-fried Fire Sand, Kangjia Old Tofu... Is it a very feeling, can be called a variety of flowers, a variety of varieties. The larger shops include Tongyiguan Shabu Lamb, Ruibin Lou JiaoJiao, Dexing Zhai Mutton Offal Soup, Fushun Zhai Sauce Beef and so on.
If you ask an "old Beijinger" about these snacks, their eyes can show a childlike look, and most of them will tell you with a fluttering eyebrow: "That workmanship, that ingredient, there is no need to say!" "Just this mouthful." These famous snacks in Beijing are not the result of clever hands, but the result of painstaking management and repeated improvement. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the original entrepreneurs who carried flat burdens to the bustling commercial districts of Beiping were penniless and set up stalls. In order to stay here, they are not afraid of hardships, they are bent on improving, trying to make diners satisfied, and only then have they practiced "one-handed skills", and some old shops have paid the efforts of several generations.
The well-known name of "Bursting Belly Feng", which is well known to old Beijingers, is a witness to this period of history. During the Guangxu years, Feng Tianjie, a chef in Shandong, set up a stall on Dong'anmen Avenue to sell explosive belly, and because of its fine workmanship, people gave him the nickname "Bursting Belly Feng". In the 1930s, Feng Tianjie's second son, Feng Jinsheng, took over from his father to run the explosive belly Feng, dozens of cold and hot summers, immersed in the study of secret seasoning, and the business became more and more prosperous. In 1935, Feng entered the door frame hutong and opened a new store in the east of the north section of the hutong.
From 1937 to 1957, the golden age of door frame alleys, a snack street attracted people from all walks of life. There are records, such as Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Ding Ling, etc. of the literati moke; Han Langen, Chen Yanyan, Bai Yang, etc. in the film and television industry; Jin Shaoshan, Qiu Shengrong, Xun Huisheng, Shang Xiaoyun, Li Wanchun, Tan Fuying, etc. in the opera industry are all regular visitors to the door frame hutong.
Door frame Hutong No. 12 is the former residence of Mr. Zhang Hexhui, a representative of the Mandarin Duck Butterfly Sect. Speaking of Mr. Zhang, in the Republic of China period, it can be said that everyone knows, everyone knows, many people have read his articles and novels, is the best-selling and most well-known writer at that time, and has countless fans for a while. People down to the city and celebrities like his books. It is said that when Chen Yinke, a member of the Republic of China, was blind in both eyes and seriously ill, he still let his friends go to the library to borrow Zhang Hexhui's novels to read to him, and Lu Xun's mother was also a loyal reader of Zhang Hexhui, and every time Zhang Hexhui came out with a new book, he asked Lu Xun to buy it for her and mail it.
Zhang Haughthui was born in 1895 in Qianshan County, Anhui Province. In 1924, his "History of Chunming" became a hit and has been out of control ever since. His novels were serialized in many newspapers at the same time, and in whichever one was published, the newspaper sold well, so the remuneration was very rich. In Zhang Hexhui's own words, a pen feeds the whole family of 30.
In 1930, Zhang Hexhui bought the No. 12 courtyard of The Gate Frame Alley, took his mother from his hometown, and lived in the compound with his two wives, three children and four brothers and sisters. The yard is meandering and graceful, front and back, there are 7 inner courtyards of large and small sizes, and the residence is very spacious. Entering the first courtyard to the south, the younger brother who is in college lives. To the north, a green screen gate is the main courtyard, where Zhang Hexhui lives; to the east, through a short corridor, into a small door, the road diagonally to the north has a triangular courtyard, which is Zhang Hexhui's guest room and study. The study is long and narrow, with wisteria trellises outside the window, lilacs and mangosteen. The courtyard is planted with various flowers and plants such as date trees, locust trees, tsubaki trees, plane trees, willows and cloves, which are luxuriant and leafy. It is said that Zhang Hexhui's favorite is chrysanthemums, so he specially used 200 silver yuan to open a special flower garden on the east side of the bookstore to cultivate it. When friends visit, they admire the chrysanthemums in the flowers, drink tea while chatting, drinking wine and poetry.
In the years of the door frame hutong, Zhang Hexhui's life was rich and stable, and he wrote many popular novels, including "The Golden Powder Family", which is known as "Dream of the Red Chamber of the Republic of China", as well as "Manjiang Hong", "Sunset Lonely Bird", "Beauty Grace" and so on.
Courtyard 12 of Gate Frame Hutong is Zhang Hexhui's third residence in Beijing. In 1919, Zhang Hexhui first came to Beijing, initially living in the Huaining Guild Hall on Yanwangmiao Street, and later moving to the Qianshan Guild Hall on Shanxi Street. Zhang Hexhui left Beijing for Nanjing in 1936 to go to Nanjing. In February 1946, Zhang Hexhui returned to Beiping from Nanjing in order to prepare for the Beiping Xinmin Bao, and he selected a 30-room courtyard along the hutong in Beigou and began his new life in Beijing in a new space.
This article is selected from "Old Beijing Narrative Hutong Streets and Alleys", which has been abridged and modified compared with the original text, and the subtitle is added by the editor, not owned by the original text. The illustrations used in this article are from the book. It has been authorized by the publishing house to publish.
Author 丨 Qi Liang
Excerpt 丨An also
Edited by 丨 青青子
Introduction Proofreading 丨 Wang Xin