The Spring Festival is approaching, and the railway stations are beginning to get busy. There are currently five railway stations in Beijing, and if you count from the establishment of Majiapu Station, Beijing South Railway Station, which was built in the 23rd year of The Qing Dynasty (1897), has the oldest history, and has a history of more than 100 years.
"Monsters" are not allowed to enter Beijing, and Majiapu Station has become the Beijing Railway Terminal
Majiapu station on postcards at the beginning of the last century
The history of Beijing South Railway Station can be traced back to Majiapu Railway Station, and its establishment is inseparable from the efforts of Li Hongzhang. As one of the main leaders of the late Qing Dynasty and the Western affairs movement, Li Hongzhang was the first person in China to advocate the development of railway transportation. In the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885), he asked for the construction of the Jintong Railway, and the original plan was to build from Tianjin to Tongzhou, but unfortunately the proposal was not adopted at that time. It was not until the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894) that the Qing government made up its mind to build a railway from Tianjin to Beijing, but the route was changed from Tianjin to Lugou Bridge, which was the Jinlu Railway.
At that time, the railway and railway station were mostly built by foreigners, and three years later, the Majiapu Station built by the British was completed and used, which is a typical Western architectural style, and the "Declaration" reported that the station "roof is covered with lead skin, and no tiles and bricks are needed." Due to the connection with the Jinlu Railway and the Luhan Railway, Majiapu Station became the starting point and end point of the line to Shenyang and Hankou, so it was the earliest train departure station and terminal station in Beijing, and it was also the main train station in Beijing at that time.
Majiapu Station is located in Majiapu Village, outside the north wall of Nanyuan, which is now Majiapu Village, Fengtai District, Beijing, in the north of Macao River, forming an "isosceles triangle" with Yongdingmen and You'anmen. When I got off the train that year, I had to walk four or five kilometers from Yongding Gate or Right An Gate to the city. Why was the station built in Majiapu instead of Yongdingmen?
Because the conservative Qing government at that time could not accept such a new thing as a "train", regarded it as a "monster", and did not allow trains to enter the city of Beijing. If the station is directly south of Yongdingmen, it is also facing the central axis and ruling center of Beijing, which is difficult for the conservatives to accept, and the plan cannot be implemented; but if it is facing the Right Anmen, it is not conducive to passengers entering the city from Yongdingmen to the east of the city. The construction of the station in Majiapu in the end was the result of compromise and compromise.
Cixi and Guangxu take the train "back to Luang"
After the Eight-Power Alliance invaded Beijing, the Temple of Heaven became the base camp of the invading army. In order to facilitate the transportation of materials and materials for the army and the plundered wealth, the invading army ripped off the city wall on the west side of the Yongding Gate and led the railway directly from Majiapu outside the Yongding Gate to the west gate of the Temple of Heaven. Empress Dowager Cixi had always opposed the construction of the railway into the city, and at this time there was nothing she could do.
After the eight-nation alliance withdrew, on November 28, 1901, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor returned to Beijing from Xi'an. Interestingly, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor escaped from Beijing in a carriage, while "Huiluan" took the train that Cixi opposed. After getting off the bus from Majiapu Station, they took the dragon car phoenix into the Yongding Gate and returned to the palace. At that time, in order to welcome them, the Qing court also held a grand welcoming ceremony at the Majiapu Railway Station.
Later, with the construction of qianmen east and west stations, Majiapu railway station was no longer beautiful and gradually deserted. Although Majiapu Railway Station has only existed for less than a decade in history, it has played an important role in driving the commercial, municipal, and transportation of the surrounding areas and promoting the development of China's railways - many shops have appeared around the station, such as tea sheds, cylinder shops, inns, bathhouses, luoziguans, etc., of which Wang Ji Tea Shed is famous throughout the southern suburbs of the city. Some large stacks were also built around the station for merchants to store goods, so there were corresponding "foot rows" where porters gathered here. It can be said that Majiapu has become the most prosperous area outside the Yongding Gate at that time.
The narrow gauge train assists the Nanyuan military parade
In order to meet the needs of the Nanyuan garrison and facilitate the guarding of the capital and the transportation of military supplies, the Qing court specially built the Jingyuan (from Yongdingmen to Nanyuan Swastika) light railway. It was laid in February of the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906) and officially opened to traffic in March of the 33rd year of Guangxu (1907).
The Jingyuan Railway was originally a narrow gauge railway with a gauge of only 1 meter, with stations such as Yongdingmen, Dahongmen and Yingshi street. The railway is under the management of the army, Yongdingmen Station is a military station, and other stations handle passenger business. In the Qing Dynasty, Lanling Washusheng wrote "Jinghua Hundred and Two Bamboo Branches", of which the poem "Nanyuan Garrison" praises the Jingyuan light train: "One six strict and two town soldiers, divided into two gardens to defend the god Jing." The traffic to and from Nanyuan is particularly convenient, and the military train has been freed. All provinces of the academy are opened together, and all of them cultivate talents for China. Today, he commanded the test of war and transferred him to the Nanyuan Army. Among them, the two sentences of "one six" refer to the qing dynasty's first town of the army stationed in Beiyuan, and the sixth town stationed in Nanyuan. "Academy" means that all provinces can run military schools, but graduates must be sent to the War Department to take the examination, and they are transferred to the Nanyuan War Department to test their command laws, it seems that nanyuan at that time was a martial arts training ground for military academy students.
In addition to transporting military supplies and military personnel, small trains on this route were also used to pick up and drop off guests. On October 10, 1916, in order to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China, Li Yuanhong, the president of the Beiyang Government, held a military parade in Nanyuan Yingpan. This was the first large-scale military parade after the founding of the Republic of China, and Grand President Li Yuanhong, Premier Duan Qirui and other senior Beiyang officials watched it together at the Nanyuan Martial Arts Hall.
In addition to officials of the Beiyang government, in order to expand their influence, the military parade also invited ministers from various countries as special guests, and the Jingyuan light train that was used at that time to transport guests invited to observe the parade. The small train departs from Yongdingmen Station to Nanyuan in two shifts, that is, two times at 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. on the 10th, because the observers must arrive at 10:30 a.m., so from 11:00 a.m., the carriages and small trains to Nanyuan will be temporarily suspended.
In September 1941, the Jingyuan Railway was rebuilt into a standard gauge, and extended south to Nanyuan Military Airport, although the distance was only expanded by a few miles, but it was much more convenient, making Nanyuan directly connected with the capital, and the strategic position of Nanyuan became increasingly important, becoming an important gateway to the south of the city.
Overdue "slow station"
In the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), the Jinlu Railway extended from Fengtai to Majiapu to the north, and a mixed passenger and freight transportation station was built in Majiapu, 3 kilometers away from Yongdingmen.
Photographed by Waldemar Tiergson at the Yongdingmen Railway Station at the end of the Qing Dynasty
In May of the 28th year of Guangxu (1902), Majiapu Station moved one kilometer north, and a temporary stop station of Majiapu was established next to the newly built Beijing-Hankou and Beijing-Shenyang Broad Gauge Railways, which was renamed "Yongdingmen Railway Station". In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), the railway was extended to Qianmen via Yongdingmen, and Majiapu Station was abolished.
After the founding of New China, a new Yongdingmen station was built in Pengzhuang Village, one kilometer west of the old Yongdingmen Railway Station. In 1958, the new Yongdingmen Station was put into use, and the following year the old Yongdingmen Railway Station was demolished.
When the Yongdingmen Railway Station was built in Pengzhuang as a temporary station, the design life was only 10 years, but due to historical reasons, the Yongdingmen Railway Station was actually in service for 38 years (a total of 48 years), and finally renamed Beijing South Railway Station in 1988.
Since its completion in 1958, Yongdingmen Railway Station has been responsible for the arrival and transit of passengers on a number of trunk and branch railways, especially the arrival, departure and transit of various slow trains, suburban commuter cars and road trains on various lines. Three stores in Mentougou on the outskirts of Beijing, Mentougou Town, Muchengjian and Datai, Fangshan Yanhua District, Laofangshan Chengguan, Zhoukoudian, Shilou, Lianggezhuang, Fengtai Town, Da Ash Factory, Changxindian and Fengtai West Railway Station in Fengtai, Weishanzhuang, Xizaolin and Anding in Daxing, as well as Gaobeidian and Songlindian shops around Beijing... There are trains leading to Yongdingmen Station, Yongdingmen Station at that time belonged to the "slow station", mainly slow trains, it can be said that all the slow trains into Beijing "shelter" and "concentration", therefore, its status can not be compared with Beijing Station.
Since most of the people who take the slow train are ordinary people, most of whom are farmers, and the route they walk is mainly in suburban counties, in this sense, Yongdingmen Station can be described as the most civilian station.
Beijing South Railway Station turned gorgeously
Old South Railway Station Square Courtesy of Beijing South Railway Station
Since Yongdingmen Station was identified as a temporary station at the beginning of construction, it has never received enough attention in the 48 years of operation, and has hardly been upgraded. Only in 1986, in the northwest of the square in front of the station, a steel greenhouse-style second waiting room was built, which is the largest renovation of Yongdingmen Station in decades. The Yongdingmen railway station is too disproportionate to the rapidly developing Beijing and must be changed.
In 1988, the railway department re-planned the station layout in beijing and decided to rename Yongdingmen Station as "Beijing South Railway Station". On the evening of May 9, 2006, after the last train, the 2141 passenger train from Beijing South Railway Station to Wuhaixi, departed, the old Beijing South Railway Station withdrew from the historical stage. That night, all the employees of the South Station came to the platform, and everyone said goodbye to the old South Station by the way of full attendance. Citizens who heard this news also spontaneously came to the old south station and waved goodbye to the old south station reluctantly.
On August 1, 2008, Beijing Xinnan Station rose from the ground about 500 meters southwest of Laonan Railway Station, opened for operation, and showed it in front of the world with a new look.
Today, Beijing South Railway Station has become one of the three major railway stations in Beijing, transporting about 220,000 passengers during the Spring Festival in 2018, becoming one of the three stations with the largest passenger flow in the country.
Know a little more
How to solve the "last kilometer" of train into the city at the end of the Qing Dynasty
In order to solve the problem of inconvenient transportation from Majiapu Station, in the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu (1899), the British introduced the "last kilometer" plan: they directly imported several of the most advanced trams from Siemens in Germany at that time, and built the "Mayong Line (Majiapu to Yongdingmen)" tram line, with a total length of about 15 miles. Passengers who got off the train directly changed to trams and could easily enter the city, so the line was welcomed by passengers as soon as it was completed.
A tram is a mechanical vehicle powered by a DC overhead contact and driven by a traction motor, with the train traveling on the tracks. The original tram body was made of wood, with glass windows on both sides, and the doors were pulled horizontal iron fence doors, and the driver was standing and driving with a rocker in the left hand at the front of the front. At that time, there was no horn on the car, and bells were installed, which sounded "bells" to warn passers-by, so the tram was jokingly called "bell car" by the people.
The "Mayong Line" is significant, it is the first tram line in China, more than 20 years before the tram in Beijing. This kind of tram was also a very advanced means of transportation in the world at that time, but unfortunately, after only a few months of driving, it was demolished by the Boxers and smashed the tram.
On September 1, 1918, when introducing the tram of that year to the public, the "Qunqiang Bao" wrote: "It was a tram installed from Yongdingmen to Majiapu before the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900). This kind of tram is to lay rails on the street road, erect iron pillars next to them, install beams on the pillars, suspend wires on the beams, trams walk on the rails, borrow the electricity of the upper wires, open as they want, live on them, be fast, and slow. ”
Source: Beijing Daily
Author: Chen Qingru
Process Editor: Sun Yujie