A hit drama "Sesame Hutong", let everyone understand the production techniques and integrity of the old Beijing pickles, the story revolves around a pickle shop called Qinfangju, after viewing everyone thinks that its prototype should be a century-old shop Liubiju, in fact, qinfangju is condensed and borrowed from the old Beijing several pickle gardens of the production method and business way to create.
Nearly 500 years of history of Liubiju Sauce Garden
Our old Beijing people love to eat pickles, the famous pickle garden will naturally not be less, such as the "Liu Bi Ju" outside the front door as early as the ninth year of Ming Jiajing (1530 AD) opened, has been nearly 500 years of history; the Southeast side of the Xidan Road Junction Tianyuan Sauce Garden, opened in the eighth year of Qing Tongzhi, is a sauce garden that makes southern pickles; opposite the north gate of Dong'an Market, there is a halal sauce garden called Tianyishun; there is also a Baorui Sauce Garden on Di'anmen Street, the West Four Tianyi Sauce Garden, the Tianzhang Sauce Garden outside the Qianmen Gate, The iron gate pickles and lixin sauce garden of Guixinzhai in the vegetable market.
Sesame Street outside Xuanwu Gate
After watching "Sesame Alley", many people are looking for this sesame alley in Beijing, in fact, there is really a hutong called "Sesame Street" outside xuanwu gate. Coincidentally, there is an old wall root street not far to the west of Sesame Street, and there is a "Lixin Sauce Garden" in the hutong, which is the closest to qinfangju in the TV series "Sesame Alley" from its geographical location alone.
39 Old Wall Root Street
Originated in the Liao Dynasty, Laoqiangen Street belongs to the same era as Brick Pagoda Hutong and Sanmiao Street, and is one of the oldest hutongs in Beijing, with a history of more than 1,000 years. Laoqiangen Street is located in the northern middle section of the former Xuanwu District, from the school yard wu in the east to the lower slope street in the west, and now has a total length of 620 meters. This street is named because it is located under the roots of the city walls of the Liao Dynasty.
"Lixin Sauce Garden" is located at No. 39 North of Old Wall Root Street Road, which is a large courtyard
Now the only thing that can prove its identity is this semi-Western-style gatehouse in the late Qing Dynasty and early Minchu, with inlaid brick carved doors and clear handwriting
The brick carving on the gate tower reads: "Lixin Sauce Garden" four words, and the fallout is "Lianxi Wu Huaiqing" (the seal is no longer clear). The inscription of this Wu Huaiqing is a university scholar in the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, who has achieved great achievements in literature, calligraphy, history, etc., once participated in the writing of the "Qing History Draft", and is also the collector of the Yongle Canon. He presided over the construction of the Shangshan Guild Hall next door to this sauce garden.
The payment is "Lianxi Wu Huaiqing"
Wu Huaiqing (1864-1928), also known as Lianxi, was originally from Tongshan County, Hubei Province, and moved to Dongjiagou in Shanyang County, Shaanxi Province in the middle of the Qianlong Dynasty. In the sixteenth year of Guangxu, he was a second-class scholar of Gengyin Branch, selected Shu Jishi, taught editing, and in the twenty-ninth year, he was instructed to take the Shandong Examination and served as the deputy examiner of the Shandong Township Examination. In the second year of xuanun, he served as the secretary of the Hanlin Academy, Lang, a member of the Senior Council, etc., and he was rewarded with a flower plume, and the top of the head was worn, and the Guanglu Doctor was awarded.
There are many pickle gardens in old Beijing, among which Gui Xinzhai in Tiemen Hutong is more famous. It is said that the owner of this Lixin sauce garden, surnamed Ren, once worked as an apprentice in Guixinzhai and learned the craft. Tiemen Hutong is on the east side of today's Xuanwumen Outer Street, and Old Wall Root Street and Sesame Street are on the west side, which are very close.
Courtyard 39 is low-lying, probably afraid of rain and rain, and there are three steps in front of the door, which is much higher than the road surface
The doorway is long, the sides are full of debris, and there is a large vat very close to the door, which is very conspicuous, reminiscent of the large vat of pickled pickles in the past.
Entering the courtyard through the doorway, it is a typical large courtyard. Both sides are covered with small houses, and it seems that there are many families living in them, and the passage is unusually narrow
According to the information consulted, in the past, this courtyard did not live in people, and all the purple glazed pickle jars were placed in it
Old Wall Root Street has a long history
In the 1960s, when Xuanwu District was digging the trunk road of the underground air raid shelter from Nanheng Street to Xidan, a bridge was found 6 meters underground at the east entrance of Laoqianggen Street, which was verified to be a stone bridge on the moat of Nanjing City, Liaoning Province.
It is said that in the 1930s, there were ruins of the ancient city on the old wall root street. According to the "Ancient Record of Yanjing's Visit", "There is a section of the ancient wall outside Xuanwu Gate that is half-cut and abandoned, eight feet long and nine feet high. The city bricks are solid, the stone foundation is as new as new, and the stone is flat inlay... The two horizontal characters of the inscription 'Tongtian' are engraved on the top, the five characters of 'Liao Kaitai First Year' are engraved on the left, and the word 'North Gate' is engraved on the right, all of which are Lishu. Kao is located in the northeast corner of the inner city of Liaoshi. ”