"Beijing Central Axis Cultural Tour Classic, Commercial Street - Light and Fire Connect", by Yang Cheng, Beijing Publishing House, October 2021 edition.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the capital city built the market behind the Yanchun Pavilion (present-day Jingshan) and in front of the Bell and Drum Tower in accordance with the principle of "the former dynasty and the later market". This square, there is a wide street, there is a Wanning Bridge connecting the Huihe River, and there is a vast Haizi Pond with smoke and waves, which is really a landscape market with beautiful scenery and mixed water and land.
Shichahai in 1870.
The market in this area is very prosperous, and all kinds of commodities are clustered, according to varieties and regions, and are relatively concentrated. There are rice market, noodle market, goose and duck market, satin city, leather hat market, bead city, Shara city (coral, shellfish market), iron market, poor man city (labor market)...
The Ming Dynasty built the city of Beijing, still using the central axis of the Yuan Capital, but the expansion of the new palace city was packaged into the Tonghui River, renamed "Jade River", and the boats in jiangnan stopped to go north and moored at the Datong Bridge outside the southeast city. Jishuitan no longer has the grand scene of thousands of boats racing in the past. The prosperity in front of the Drum Tower was once silent.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, in order to protect the imperial power of the initial establishment, Shunzhi ordered the Eight Banners military and civilians to live in various parts of the inner city, and moved the Han officials and people, the opera garden and the brothel to the outside of the first three gates (Xuanwu Gate, Zhengyang Gate, and Chongwen Gate) to implement the "separation of banner and Han". This time the inner city is "clean" and "stopped".
However, "in front of the drum tower" has sprouted a new "upturn" compared with the Ming Dynasty.
In front of the drum tower at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
How? Occupants are changing.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, this area was garrisoned by the yellow flag and the yellow flag in the "Three Banners of the Eight Banners", which was the boundary directly managed under the eyes of the royal family. There are many offices, good houses, up and down, close to Shichahai, beautiful environment, most of the residents are princes and courtiers, relatives of the emperor, and dignitaries. Even the old eunuch who retired from Hugh was reluctant to leave, and found a Niangniang Temple here to live in for the rest of his life. These households are all broad lords who eat money and grain and carry a lot of silver!
Merchants have sharp eyes and brains, identifying these "gods of wealth", scrambling to open shops in the number rooms on both sides of Gulou Street, and for a while the flags are flaunting and flying, and the shouting and selling are endless.
Following the flow of people walking in wisps, walking into Gulou Street, looking left and right, it was really not enough for two eyeballs.
Count Noble sings well:
Play bamboo boards into the street, buy and sell shops on both sides of the row,
There are also buys and sells, and the goods are really accurate to get rich...
The teahouse is another home for old Beijingers
The industry is complete, not afraid of competition, the best of the best, to give a variety of different purchasing power customers fully choose and compare space, is a major feature of the "drum tower front" commercial market.
Roughly counting, the silk cloth shops on the street have Qianxiang Yibei, Tianxing, Tongxingchang, Fuxinglong, and Yongtongcheng; The shoe shop has Quan'an Zhai, Qian You Zhai, Ju Mao Zhai, Qing Rong Sheng, quan Shun Zhai; Jewelry buildings include Xinyuan Building, Ruicheng Building, Yitai Building, and Hefeng Number; The tea estate has Wu Zhaoxiang, Rongyuan, Huiyuan, Xiangtai, and Hefeng; Tobacco leaves are paved with North Yufeng, North Yifeng; The pickle garden has "big gourd" Bao Ruixing, Nan Hongtai, Qianyi, Hongxing; Dried fruit seafood shops include Da Shunde, Xinmao Kui, Ju Shun He, Ju Sheng Chang, Qian De; The restaurants include Qinghetang, Heyizhai and Fuxingju; The big teahouse has Tianhuixuan. In addition, there are Pingyi Money House, photo studio, watch shop, barber shop and bookstore, etc.
The teahouse is another home for old Beijingers. Here we will talk about the famous Tianhuixuan Tea House in Beijing. The capital is extraordinary, and it makes decisions about the major affairs and small affairs of the country. The emperor is there, eating more imperial food, more people going to Beijing to seek meritorious work, and there are naturally more idle deliberations and all kinds of unseemly transactions, which is indispensable to the seemingly bright and dark public places such as teahouses. The large-scale and grand tea house specially prepared for the people first occupied the main road of the capital.
Like Tianhuixuan outside the Di'an Gate, Tianrenxuan, Tianqixuan and Tianquanxuan on Qianmen Street, Tianshouxuan in Beixinqiao, Tianfuxuan, Tiandexuan and Tianyixuan inside Fucheng Gate, commonly known as "Eight Great Xuan". The original meaning of "Xuan" refers to the elevated car taken by the doctor of the dynasty, which was later derived as a fence and an outdoor platform. The name "heaven" has a unique meaning, and also alludes to tea as a gift from heaven. As for the embedded words in the middle: Hui, Ren, Qi, Quan, Shou, Fu, De, Yi, all have the content of hope and expectation. The people of Beijing are good at showing people with the "Eight Greats", such as "Eight Buildings", "Eight Great Residences", "Eight Great Xiang", "Eight Monsters"... Even the Peking Opera played by Huang Tianba, there is also the saying of "eight big takes".
The prosperity of the big tea house was closely related to the current situation, and the last batch before the decline was at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic. Tianhui Xuan outside the Di'an Gate also left some faint shadows in people's memories.
Tianhuixuan is located outside Di'anMen Gate, on the east side of Gulou Street. Listening to the old people, Tianhui Xuan sat facing east and west, five door faces, the entrance door was the front hall, the south side of the door was the counter and the stove, a huge sitting water copper pot was steaming, and the stove was hanging high. The water in the pot has been rolling open, ready to be poured into the small number of portable copper pots, and the "Tea Doctor" carries the small copper pot into the customer's lid bowl.
Through the paved vestibule is a spacious and bright yard, with a tin canopy, surrounded by reed curtains that can be rolled up, ventilated, adjustable, warm in winter and cool in summer, and one layer of dimming is more than today's air conditioner. The yard is placed in scattered seats, which are properly dense. The east side of the courtyard is the hall, and then go inward is a courtyard with a high ceiling, compacter than the front yard, the north and south sides are elegant box rooms, encounter three or five confidants, or romance, or reminisce, shallow chanting, this house is quiet, the best situation. The five main halls in the middle are the top places of Tianhuixuan, and the furnishings are luxurious, designed for the private use of high-ranking officials and nobles.
Stills from the movie "The Teahouse".
At dawn, there were already figures shaking in the mist of the shicha sea. There are people who shout and clap their voices, there are those who lift cages and birds to walk early, there are those who practice boxing and sword training, and there are acquaintances who meet and talk... At dawn, these early walkers invariably stepped into the gate of Tianhuixuan and became the first group of customers.
The old man, the old man, the old man, without command, the hall will at the same time as inviting an, hand the guest officer a steaming hand towel handle, let the seat be good, change the water tank in the bird cage, add food to the food can, and then hang it on the copper hook under the beam of the front hall. After the familiar guests wiped their faces, the pine was almost seated, the tea was brewed, and a pot of incense chips and a plate of burnt bread dumplings were served just right. At this time, only the jingle of dishes was heard in the hall, accompanied by the sound of people chewing and drinking, and even the birds in the cage were busy pecking and stopping their voices. This also indicates that the noisy day of Tianhuixuan has begun. Then, about people to talk about things, full of food and nothing to do, brewing tea house time, one after another, one after another in and out. TianhuiXuan gathered together busy and idle people of all colors, and pulled out a story of taste and taste...
Have you seen Lao She's "Tea House"? Tianhui Xuan probably meant that.
There are many places called Slant Street,
What are the characteristics of Yanbao Diagonal Street?
There is a short road from Gulou Street to Shichahai, stepping on it and stepping on it, stepping on a diagonal road; People come and go, and houses are built on the side of the road, which becomes a diagonal street. There are many places called Xiejie Street in Beijing, what are the characteristics here? Looking up, there are several tobacco bag shops at the east entrance, hanging large cigarette bags under the guise, very conspicuous, just called "cigarette bag street".
At that time, the Han people generally smoked dry tobacco, paying attention to the fact that the tobacco bags were white copper pots, ebony poles, emerald mouths, and Kanto tobacco. Full of snuff and smoking hookahs. There are two most famous tobacco bag shops in Shuangshengtai and Tonghesheng on The slope street, which sell all kinds of cigarette bags and repair and clean cigarette bags. Legend has it that Cixi's cigarette bag in the palace was brought here by the eunuch to clean it. In fact, there are many flag people in the Drum Tower area, eating Feng Lu, idle, smoking and drinking tea in pubs, and the sale of tobacco bag shops is quite prosperous. There are also a few antique shops and hanging shops in the street, and it is good to buy and sell.
After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, the Qiren cut off money and food, and they had no ability and no strength, so they had to become sellers and take antique jade and celebrity calligraphy and paintings to the antique shops on the street for a few dollars. Antique dealers sit back and enjoy their success, buy cheaply and sell expensively, and end up "not open for half a year, open and eat for half a year". On the north side of The East Exit Road of XieJie Street is the Xinyuan bath opened by Li Fuqing, who is said to be a descendant of the grand eunuch Li Lianying. On the north side of The Middle Street of Xie Street is the Guangfu Temple, which was built in the third year of Mingshun (1459).
A civilian paradise in Beijing's history
From the very beginning, it was stained with "imperial spirit"
The square between the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower often has acrobatic performances of music and art, and the cars and horses are continuous all day long, and the tourists are weaving, which has become a leisure place for the capital city to "enjoy the sale of worries and forget the flow". It is calculated that it predates the overpass in the outer city, which should be the birthplace of Chinese music art and acrobatics earlier. Interestingly, the civilian paradise in Beijing's history has been stained with "imperial spirit" from the beginning, one after the other, ranking at the north and south ends of the central axis.
Yuanren Huang Wenzhong's "Dadu Fu" praised this area as:
Jinshi City, Hua District, gathering the treasures of all countries;
Song shed dance hall, choose Kyushu No. Tsufun.
After the Ming Dynasty, the Tonghui River was blocked, and the water flowing from the pond was reduced, although it lost its former prosperity, but because of the lake scenery of the Shichahai Sea, it became a "first victory area under the capital" with many temples and dense gardens (Ming Jiang Yikui's "Chang'an Guest"). Beijing is drought and water shortage, only here, in the summer, red lotus to the sky, green willows, is a rare summer resort in Beijing. The poets of the time praised:
Liutang Lianpu Road winding, a nap to cool off;
The fragrance of lotus flowers is continuous, and the evening wind blows through the Buliang Bridge.
That feeling, really refreshing, four wild cool, very comfortable.
Houhai Silver Ingot Bridge.
There is more water and more bridges. Looking west, it is a graceful and colorful mountain shadow - spring green, summer green, autumn red, winter white, how not to stir up the literati poetry XingDafa? Although the "Eight Views of Yanjing" designated by the Qianlong Emperor did not see the "Silver Ingot View of the Mountain", it was still listed as a scene in the folk.
The original Lotus Market opened for the May Festival and was closed for the Zhongyuan Festival
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, Shichahai evolved into a "lotus market" that integrated summer, leisure, shopping and wandering, and flourished. Chinese people love the character of the lotus flower out of the mud without staining, and cherish it even more: the petals, the lotus canopy, the cover leaves, and the white lotus root are all delicious at the right time, which is both a fresh fruit and can be added to the dish. Therefore, the big and small blisters in the capital have lotus flowers reflecting the sun, and even in the courtyard, several pots of red and white lotus flowers should be planted to accompany them day and night. It can be said that the lotus flower integrates into the summer life of Beijingers, and also nourishes the character of Beijing's human love, clean, refreshing, elegant and dedicated.
I love the huge lotus blossoms at the Lotus Market. The breeze is gentle, and the red lotus swaying with the wind brings a burst of lotus fragrance. The tea stalls, snack stalls, department stores, and performing arts stalls around the bank can always stop you as you wish, so that you can enjoy the lotus delicacies that are not available elsewhere, such as fresh lotus root, diamond horn, chicken head rice, river fish, river shrimp, lotus seed porridge, lotus leaf porridge, river rice cold cake, osmanthus cold powder, ice bowl, popsicle, ice cream, shaved ice, dried fruit, snowflake cheese, cheese, sour plum soup... Among them, there is a snack called "river fresh", which has a unique flavor. It was peeled fresh walnut kernels, large flat almonds, fresh diamond horn rice, fresh chicken head rice, all four in one, mixed with ice ballast, sprinkled with a layer of white sugar, and served in a small blue and white porcelain bowl. Use a small spoon to taste slowly, cool and sweet, more than shaved ice, ice cream more than a cool taste.
The lotus market food stalls at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Although the lotus market appeared in the early years of the Republic of China, due to the prosperity and diversity of the market, a legend about Cixi appeared in the folk: one day Cixi was eating at the newly built Diecui Building in the northwest of Jingxinzhai, and suddenly a strong fragrance drifted from the lotus market in the north. She hurriedly asked the little eunuch to go to the market to inquire, what kind of food is so fragrant? The little eunuch was very clever, and when he arrived at the lotus market, he picked and picked, bought some delicious and beautiful small snacks, took a bag of lotus leaves, and brought it to Cixi. Lafayette taste, this incense! It was very different from the imperial meal in the palace that "could not be eaten in the middle", and immediately sent a message to the steward of the imperial dining room to go to the lotus market to learn these kinds of eating skills. Since then, the imperial diet has added minced pork cakes, small nest heads, pea yellow, kidney bean rolls...
In this way, the Houhai sea close to the Three Seas of the Royal West Garden has really become a water garden shared by the government and the public, especially in the summer, tourists from all over the world use a piece of water, endlessly, flocking to leisure, going to the summer, shopping, and having fun.
Speaking of the lotus market of that year, Mr. Jin Shoushen had such memories in "Beijing Pass":
In front of the Qianhai "Jixiangju", it is full of lotus flowers. ...... There is the former site of the shrimp vegetable pavilion in the sea, and the cattails are overgrown. Near the western end, the long causeway stretches from north to south, with a wide embankment and dense willows. Five years before the Republic of China, every summer, some people set up tea tables here, and those who enjoyed the blessings of Qingfu could go here to taste tea and chat. Five years after the Republic of China, the "Lotus Market" was opened, starting from Duanyang to the end of the Middle Yuan, recruiting merchants to open business, mainly for tea sheds on both sides of the strait. The tea shed is half bank and half river, and the wooden board is called "water seat", and the tea is more expensive. In addition, there are temporary restaurants, cannon shabu stalls, river fresh shacks, cold food sheds and fruit stalls, watermelon stalls, bean juice enemas, food is prepared. More to "eight treasure lotus seed porridge" as a snack. For the sale of snacks, there are antique stalls, book stalls, calligraphy and painting stalls, as well as toys, grass worms and seasonal fan stalls. In terms of entertainment, there are drop sheds, juggling sheds, book fairs, cross-talk fields, handle-style fields, and even Bai Yunpeng, "Old Wu Gua", Ge Hengquan, etc. also come here to perform, all kinds of business are close to civilianization, and leisure travel does not charge, so it was once lively.
In the winter moat, Shichahai, there are often many ice beds on the shore to attract passengers, and in the new year and the first month, sitting on the ice beds, galloping on the ice, although there is no need to slip on the foot, it is also very interesting. A few years ago, every February, I often listened to Yang Yunqing say "Water Margin" in Guangqingxuan, a slip of the hutong, scattered books in the evening, from the Silver Ingot Bridge to DeshengMen, sat on a back and forth ice bed, and then drank two or two white dry at Di'an Bridge, which was also leisurely and interesting.
Deng Yunxiang described the "diamond horns" produced in the lake in his "Little Record of the Red Chamber":
A few decades ago, the diamond horns produced in Shichahai, Deshengmenwai Chicken Head Pond and Lingjiao Pit were not extremely small, but two-cornered small diamonds that were slightly larger than Jiangnan Wild Ling and XiaoHong Ling. When raw, it is green and red, brown after cooking, and it is very tender to eat, which is much more delicious than Jiangnan Laoling, a bite full of dried powder. Shichahai Lotus Market and Huixiantang Restaurant sell ice bowls and lotus seed porridge, and the fresh diamond horns used are all such diamond horns.
The original lotus market opened from the beginning of May to the closure of the Mid-Yuan Festival on July 15, moisturizing the irritability of Beijingers for a whole summer.
In 1990, the once-silent lotus market reopened, more gorgeous and more magnificent, becoming an ideal place for Chinese and foreign tourists to cool off in the summer.
Nowadays, the lotus market is even more prosperous. A variety of restaurants and bars are scattered all around Haizi, and even the nearby hutongs have been demolished into various bars. The lights are red and green, and the light singing and dancing are reflected in the sparkling colors of Shichahai, attracting tourists from home and abroad. After people swim in the hutongs and courtyards on tricycles, they sit by the water's edge, drink coffee, taste flower tea, and carefully touch the long rhyme of old Beijing, which is called a beauty.
This article is selected from "Beijing Central Axis Cultural Tour Classic, Commercial Street - Light and Fire Connection", the subtitle is added by the editor, not the original text. The illustrations used in this article are from the book. It has been authorized by the publishing house to publish.
Original author /Yang Cheng
Excerpts/Ann also
Edit/Aoruko
Introduction Proofreader/Liu Jun