The south and north river lines used to be called the Dong'anmen River Coast, and later they were divided into the South and North River Banks with Dong'anmen as the boundary.
The Jade River passes through the imperial city between Dong'anmen and Dong'anli Gate
Nanheyan Street is a long street in the north-south direction, and this street is a section of the imperial river from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China. The imperial river system was opened up by Guo Shoujing and others in the Yuan Dynasty to serve as the Cao Canal for transporting grain in the capital. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial river was incorporated into the imperial city. The water of the royal river comes from Shichahai, enters the imperial city through the Houmen Bridge, and crosses the imperial city along the east wall of the Yellow City to the south. Out of the imperial city through the south water pass of the current Zhengyi Road, it flows out of the inner city into the moat, and flows east into the Tonghui River. Later, due to the lack of water supply, it was gradually silted up and changed to a culvert, on which an asphalt road was built. Now the north and south rivers in the imperial city are the original royal river. Nanheyan Street starts from the south end of Beiheyan Street in the north and reaches East Chang'an Street in the south. During the Qianlong period, this place was located in the south of Dong'anmen and the southern section of the Yuhe River. In 1965, Taiping Lane and Jingou Hutong were merged and renamed Dong'anmen South Street. In 1981, it was renamed Nanheyan Street. The Nanheyan block belonged to Dongyuan in the Ming Dynasty, and the reservoir area of the Internal Affairs Office in the Qing Dynasty, and in modern times, this block gradually moved from closed to open.
Outside the Donghua Gate at the north end of the South River, it was called Donghuamen Street when the Qing Dynasty was Xuantong, and it was used after the Republic of China. There used to be a Dong'an Bridge in the Imperial City of Dong'anmen, also known as the Huang'en Bridge. At the head of the Huang'en Bridge, there is a Taoist temple called "Huang'en Xuanzhen Temple". In the past, there was a saying among the common people that "there is a temple on the bridge, and there is a bridge in the temple" refers to this place. The "bridge" is the Huang'en Bridge, and the "temple" is the Xuanzhen Temple. In the early years of the Republic of China, the Huang'en Bridge was demolished. The Xuanzhen Temple at the head of the bridge was rebuilt in the north of Donghuamen Street. The current No. 1 Donghuamen Street is the former site of the view.
Beiheyan Street, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China is a section of the imperial river, Qianlong is called Beiheyan, in 1947 it is called Dong'anmen Riverside, after 1949 it is called Dong'anmen North Riverside, in 1965 it was renamed Dong'anmen North Street, in 1981 it was renamed Beiheyan Street.
Beihe Hutong Yuhe River landscape
Landscape of the southern section of the Jade River
Dong'anmen is the east gate of the imperial city, which is opposite the Donghua Gate of the Forbidden City. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial river was in the east of Dong'anmen, outside the imperial city, it was a more important transportation channel in the capital, and the ships and merchants were extremely busy every day, so the noise seriously affected the emperor's "work" and life. Therefore, in the seventh year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1432), the east wall of the imperial city was moved east to the east bank of the imperial river, so that the imperial river was enclosed in the imperial city and became a Cao Canal channel for royal use, and Dong'anmen also moved to the east side of the imperial river with the eastward movement of the imperial city wall. The Dong'an Gate built during the Yongle period was also rebuilt into a three-gate type, and the name was also changed to Dong'anli Gate, and later a barrier wall was built on the Huang'en Bridge to connect the two gates into one. This north river along the Yuhe River not only has beautiful scenery, but also has many historical relics along the river and in the streets, recording the history of the changes of Beijing.
(Source: Beijing Social Science Popularization Series "Illustrating the Cultural Belt of the Grand Canal in Beijing"; Author: Li Jianping, Yang Wenli; Image source: original article with pictures)