The old streets and alleys in the history of Xingtai Inner City and Outer City are characterized by many curves, and many curves are bent at the bends, and there are few corners. Inner cities such as Shubanying, JiuxianQian, Taiping Street, etc., outer cities such as alleys from Xiguan Street to Chase Street, alleys from Indigo Street to East Street, alleys from North Street to Meat Market Street to Niushi Street, etc. There are seven bends, ten bays, etc. Most of these alleys are seven twists and eight turns, vertical and horizontal crossing, which can be seen in this feature.
So why are these streets so curved?
Some people say that this is caused by the large number of people in the original old town and the overcrowding.
Not really. From guangxu's "Xingtai County Chronicle" about the "bazaar", this Nanguoqi market was originally in Nanguan on the second, seventh and twelfth days of the first month, and seventeen, twenty-two and twenty-seven in the city. Later, considering that "there are few people in the city, most of the people's houses are not in the city, the city is gradually empty, the South Pass is gradually crowded, the people in Nanguan are gradually increasing, there are still soldiers xiǎn, the number of people in the city is not enough to take advantage of the obstacles, and the people in Nanguan are burned and killed", that is, in order to prevent the people from gathering and gathering, the bandits will take advantage of the chaos and raid, and in wartime, the people outside the city have no shelter, and the city is under-defended, so the market was uniformly moved to the city. However, the inner city is where the government, barracks, official institutions, residences, temples and temples are located, as well as some tea houses, liquor stores, and other trading shops in the south and west of the city. It can be seen from this that there are not many residents in the old city.
There were not many residents in the old city, so during the Guangxu period, the streets in the inner city were only the branches of the ten four main streets and the thirteen small streets of Sizheng Street, such as Donkey Fu Camp, Tanhua Street, Dongcang Lane, Xicang Lane, Taiping Street, Nanxue Street, Chongli Street, North Street, Wei Ya Street, and Shubanying. As an important part of the city, these streets have a certain planning "square and orientation", that is, the north-south roads must cross vertically and horizontally to form rectangular neighborhoods, so there will be no phenomenon of twisting and turning.
The historical Xingtai Old Town, in the Guangxu years to lead the living spring water into the city, the city "spring water around the flow street market", from the city there are two plate bridges, four gates of Dengyun Bridge, Niutou Bridge and other twelve bridges, the city drainage is designed, there will be no bending along the water with the slope of the phenomenon, so the city these streets, alleys or relatively positive, there is no seven bays, eight bays of the streets, so these with bends, bay streets and alleys appear outside the old city.
As for the streets and alleys called "bays", the reasons for this should be as follows:
Xingtai City, Guangxu between such as the left guanxiang, "but the South Pass is densely packed, the three passes in the east, west and north are few", so the population of Nanguan is more, and the streets and alleys called "Bay" just appear in Nanguan.
Xingtai's terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast (also high in the west and low in the east), from the North Qidao Bay from indigo water hole to the East Street, the South Seven Dao Bay is connected to the Mashi Water Hole, and the direction of its alleys is from the northwest to the southeast and "bend" It can be seen that these alleys are formed because the residents live with the "water bay", so these alleys are so named "North Seven Dao Bay" and "South Seven Dao Bay". As for the "Ten Dao Bay" of Xiguan, it is also a northwest-southeast direction, which should be related to the fact that the Sandi River flows east to the west of the city (that is, the Little Yellow River) and turns north, and diverts water into Xiguan, so it is called "Ten Dao Bay". (The same is true of the direction of the Seven Bays on North Avenue), "bend, bay" homophonous, but later called string, shortened to become "bend", which is the same as "Xianlao" said that Zhao Guzhuang was written as "Zhao Guzhuang". However, the old street door sign still reads "Seven Dao Bay" and "Ten Dao Bay".
It is this "bay" character that is connected with the water, recording the history of Xingtai with hundreds of springs flowing, waves of light, reeds flying, lotus fragrance floating, rice waves undulating, and a grand scene in the north of the Jiangnan.