Walking into the east entrance of the East Fourth Three Hutong, a row of more than a dozen ancient locust trees are arranged on the north side of the alley to the west, with lush foliage. No. 11, Dongsi Sanjo, on the north side of this ancient locust, is one of the former residences of the Qing Taizu Nurhaci's third son, The Duke of Abai. Today, it has become the residence of ordinary residents, but the pair of upper and lower horse stones in front of the gate can still make people imagine the scene of the cars and horses in the past.
This is just a house in many streets and alleys and hutongs in Beijing, but it has witnessed the historical changes in Beijing in the past hundred years.
A few days ago, the first batch of traditional geographical names protection lists in the functional core areas of the capital were announced, and 583 traditional geographical names were included in the preliminary selection list of the first batch of protection lists. Place names are both a product of society and a cultural form. Naming, alteration, protection, and the unique meaning carried by geographical names are increasingly valued by the public.
September 22, overlooking Dongsi Hutong. Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng photographed
Most of the place names used in Beijing today originated during the Ming and Qing dynasties
In Zhangshanying Township, Yanqing, Beijing, there are two small villages named after Hanquan, called Shanghanquan and Shimosakaquan, and there are also places such as Hanshan and Hanquanhe nearby. Local villagers say the names may be related to "Hansen No no Noo".
According to legend, the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor fought a great battle in the "Wild of Hanquan", and Xuan You and the Yellow Emperor also fought the "Battle of Zhuolu". "Zhuolu" and "Hanquan" are the two oldest known place names in China, dating back about 4,000 years, and these two place names happen to be in the junction of Yanqing in Beijing and Zhuolu in Hebei.
Whether yanqing's "Hanquan" is the "Hanquan" of the Yanhuang War is still inconclusive, but it is certain that the place name "Hanquan" has been quite old.
In fact, the emergence and development of geographical names is closely related to human activities. Politically active, economic and cultural development, the development of geographical names is fast, and the emergence and development of geographical names in the Beijing area is a true portrayal of Beijing's history.
According to the "Beijing Chronicle of Geographical Names", there are dozens of place names known in the pre-Qin period in beijing; from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, Beijing's political status was changed from a princely state to an important town in northern China, and the number of place names in Beijing increased greatly, but due to the change of dynasties and the dispersion of information, only a few hundred place names were known during this period.
Sun Donghu, a researcher at the Institute of History of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and president of the Beijing Historical Research Association, introduced that after the Liaojinyuan period, Beijing's place names have undergone major development. As Beijing gradually became the political center of the country, according to the available information, there are as many as a thousand known place names in the Beijing area during this period, some of which are still in use today. "Like the current Shijia Hutong and Brick Pagoda Hutong, it was named after the Yuan Dynasty."
Since the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, as the capital of China, has reached the peak of economic and cultural development in the feudal period, and the number of place names in Beijing has increased significantly. It can be said that most of the place names used in Beijing now originated in the Ming and Qing dynasties and have become an important part of Beijing's culture.
September 24, Brick Tower Alley. Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng photographed
A Beijing place name with a "Beijing style"
How are these place names named? Sun Donghu introduced that the basis for talking about the naming of geographical names should start from the role of geographical names, and geographical names generally have four functions: the product of language development, the signs of geographical environment, the imprint of historical changes, and the portrayal of social life.
Some place names bear the imprint of linguistic development and change. "Taking the case board Zhang Hutong as an example, most people will think that there was a person surnamed Zhang who lived here and was engaged in the work of producing the case board. But it actually refers to 'Ang Bang Zhangjing', which is Manchu, is the name of the official, and after Sinicization, it becomes 'Case Ban Zhang Hutong'. Sun Donghu said.
There are also place names that include natural areas such as mountains and ridges, or are derived from regional morphology. According to records, "Liubukou" is related to the six ministries of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which is the name of the official government yamen in the old days, and the officials who come to Beijing to do things are generally waiting for the court at Liubukou, hence the name here.
In general, Beijing's historical place names have their own unique characteristics.
Sun Donghu concluded that the biggest feature of Beijing's place names is that it is quite "Beijing style". "Many place names in Beijing contain words such as 'heaven,' 'earth,' and 'jing,' and the atmosphere is magnificent, and some place names have the words 'emperor' and other words, or they are related to the officialdom, with some 'imperial spirit' and 'official spirit.'"
The counterpart to "official" is "people's morale", also known as "tacky", which is easy to understand. "Occupation, terrain, celebrities, many 'ground-sticking' place names are derived from this." Zheng Yi, who was the director of the Beijing Bell and Drum Tower Cultural Relics Depository and has been engaged in the writing of local history of Dongcheng District for many years, introduced that for example, the Tieying Hutong in Dongsi Street appeared in the Ming Dynasty, which is said to be named because there were many blacksmith workshops in the Ming and Qing dynasties; the crescent hutong was named because the entire hutong resembled a crescent moon.
In addition, Beijing's place names also have the characteristics of "elegant" and "ancient". "These are the hallmarks of Beijing's place names." Sun Donghu said.
On September 22, East 43jo, the southwest corner of the Chejun Wangfu building remained. Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng photographed
Hutong streets and alleys have undergone many name changes
However, geographical names are not static.
After the Republic of China, especially after 1949, some old place names disappeared with urban construction, and some new place names were also born, and the number of individual place names in Beijing reached more than 10,000.
In 1965, Beijing carried out a large-scale rectification of the names of hutongs and streets and alleys in the city, evaluated more than 3590 hutongs and streets and alleys in four urban areas one by one, merged some small hutongs into large hutongs, and changed some place names with unhealthy ideas and old ideas. After the integration, there are 2994 hutongs and streets and alleys in the four urban areas.
During the Cultural Revolution, many streets, alleys and alleys were changed to names with the color of the "Cultural Revolution", such as "East Four Toutiao" was changed to "Red Sun Road Headline". But soon after, the original name was restored.
Since then, although there has been no large-scale change of place names, with the development and construction of the city, the old courtyards have been replaced by residential areas and commercial buildings, and some hutongs have taken away their names while "disappearing".
"For example, in the CBD region, there was no such concept before." Gao Wei, president of the Beijing Folklore Society and an expert in folk culture, said that the change of place names with the changes in the environment does not mean that they are not protected, and the changes of old place names should be recorded, and a complete database containing place names, origins, history, meanings, and geographical information should be established to facilitate future generations to understand the historical evolution of regional development.
Gao Wei believes that Beijing's old place names, like Beijing's old residents and old buildings, are an important part of regional culture. Studying the changes in Beijing's place names is like looking at the history of Beijing's development. "This and population change is a truth, with the change of the city, there are constantly old people fading out, there are also new people to join, which is the embodiment of the vitality of a city." However, the preservation of old place names as a historical inheritance or accumulation, I think it is still quite meaningful. ”
"Place names are relatively stable, but change is inevitable." Sun Donghu believes that we should emphasize that "if we can not change, we will not change" and protect the historical and cultural information carried by place names.
September 24, Shijia Hutong. Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng photographed
Retain the lifeblood of the city's history and culture
As early as the 1980s, the UNESCO Conference on Geographical Names proposed that "geographical names have important cultural and historical significance, and arbitrary change of geographical names will cause losses in inheriting cultural and historical traditions".
The first list of traditional geographical names in the functional core area of the capital is listed, and Fuxue Hutong in Dongcheng District is listed among them. No. 63 of this hutong is the ancestral hall of Wen Tianxiang, a patriotic poet and national hero at the end of the Song Dynasty, and its former site is the earthen prison when Wen Tianxiang was imprisoned in Dadu. This courtyard has been repaired several times during the Ming, Qing and Republic of China periods, and the spirit of "who lives since ancient times has not died, and whoever leaves Dan's heart to take care of Khan Qing" has been passed down under the name of "Wen Tianxiang Ancestral Hall".
Looking at the list, you will find that most of the hutongs and streets and alleys listed in it are distributed along the central axis. "Compared with the historical and cultural protection areas set up by Beijing's cultural heritage protection, the 33 precincts in Beijing's old city are basically in line with the first batch of released names." Hu Xinyu, director of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, said.
"I once made the idea that place names may be the last hope that Beijing will retain its historical and cultural lifeblood." In Sun Donghu's view, a city that becomes a famous historical and cultural city must have a long history. As a historical and cultural resource, place names should also be valued in the protection of historical and cultural cities. He believes that the release of the protection list is an "important step" for Beijing to promote the protection of geographical names, and it is also part of the continuation of the cultural context of the famous historical and cultural city of Beijing.
The Regulations on the Protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in Beijing, issued this year, emphasize that one of the key objects of protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in Beijing is place names. In this context, Beijing has also included the protection and inheritance of traditional geographical names in the Three-Year Action Plan for the Detailed Control Planning of the Functional Core Areas of the Capital (2020-2022) and the List of Key Tasks for the Construction of National Cultural Centers in 2021.
"Many cities will experience changes in place names, both chinese and foreign, ancient and modern. Buildings will disappear, but place names will remain. Hu Xinyu believes that place names reflect the context of urban development and tell future generations what the city has experienced. The List of Traditional Geographical Names Protection is a useful supplement to the protection of historical and cultural heritage, so that the historical buildings and heritage that have disappeared can be continued and passed on to a certain extent. This is the icing on the cake for the protection of historical and cultural heritage, and in a sense, it is also a charcoal in the snow.
Carrying urban nostalgia
In 1980, China conducted the first nationwide census of geographical names, covering the origin, meaning, historical changes and geographical location of geographical names. "The census found that place names in some places disappear very quickly, which also made many scholars realize that traditional place names should be treated as protected as other historical and cultural heritage." Sun Donghu said.
It is not only academics who see the importance of toponymic conservation. According to the relevant person in charge of the Office of the Beijing Municipal Local History Compilation Committee, before the 1960s, there was no special geographical name management agency in Beijing. After the reform and opening up, with the development of Beijing's construction undertakings, it has become increasingly urgent to strengthen the management of geographical names.
In 1978, the Beijing Municipal Leading Group and Office for Geographical Names was established to comprehensively rectify the city's geographical names and formulate the Measures for the Administration of Geographical Names in Beijing, so as to bring the management of geographical names into the rule of law. In 1988, the former Beijing Municipal Planning Commission established the Geographical Names Planning and Management Office, which was specifically responsible for the work of geographical names.
What does a place name mean in a city? The writer Feng Jicai once wrote: Cities are alive, and place names have the meaning of life, that is, they have the same rich and profound meaning as life. If this place has its own history and destiny, place names are the containers of this historical destiny.
"As a carrier of cultural heritage and inheritance, old place names are also an important component of retaining historical and cultural memories and urban nostalgia." Xi Dalong, president of the Beijing Cultural and Creative Research Institute and expert adviser of the Beijing Dongcheng Cultural Development Research Institute, said that old place names carry a strong sense of cultural belonging, and are based on the traditional social and cultural structure, which is a unique affection for the land, the complex of the homeland, and the love of the country, and has become a unique spiritual resource that attracts and unites people in each era.
Since 2000, China has formulated a system related to the protection of geographical names and cultural heritage, and promoted the "China Geographical Names And Cultural Heritage Protection Project" and the protection list and protection planning. In 2017, the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Project for the Inheritance and Development of China's Excellent Traditional Culture" was issued, proposing to "promote the protection of geographical names and cultural heritage".
"For traditional place names, you can't put up a sign"
"Old place names are cultural symbols that witness the development of the city, and they are also an effective way to create a cultural landmark in the city." Xi Dalong believes that the place names of the old city are symbolic symbols of regional culture, which can be used to carry out external publicity, enhance cultural soft power, and actively empower urban development by relying on the cultural intrinsic value of old place names.
In 2016, a campaign called the "Old Beijing Walking Curve Program" was launched, which recruited volunteers online and trained volunteers to walk in hutongs, take photos, interviews, records, etc., and record the subtle changes in the old city.
As a co-founder of the "Old Beijing Walking Curve Project", Hu Xinyu has a unique observation on the protection and utilization of old Beijing place names.
In recent years, Beijing has begun to promote cultural road visits. By excavating the cultural connotation of the historical district, connecting the scattered historical districts, cultural relics and monuments, celebrity former residences, etc., refining cultural values, designing characteristic themes, and promoting the route as a whole.
Hu Xinyu believes that the cultural exploration road is a good idea, but there are also links that need to be improved. For example, at some points on the cultural visit road, only one room or one gatehouse remains, and he suggested adding explanations through erection and other means for such historical information to be displayed too little. On the other hand, some of the introductions use seal books, and he suggested changing the font to a font that can be understood by contemporary people. "This principle also applies to the interpretation and presentation of traditional geographical names, which is to be conveyed in a way that is easily understood by the public."
"For traditional place names, you can't put up a sign." Hu Xinyu said that the traditional way of introducing place names can be diversified and have their own characteristics. For residents, there must be a sense of community pride; for tourists, there must be a sense of curiosity to learn new things. It would be even better if it allowed the public to participate. The protection of place names should enable people to increase their understanding of the old city and increase their feelings.
Traditional geographical names should be protected and used more. Hu Xinyu suggested that in the future, the setting of public transportation stations can consider using more traditional place names, one is conventional, easy to recognize, and the other is to reflect the historical and cultural connotations and facilitate dissemination. "The protection of traditional culture, with a focus on promoting public attention and participation, also applies to the conservation and use of traditional geographical names."
Beijing News reporter Xu Meihui Sha Xueliang Chen Lin
Photojournalist Wang Zicheng
Edited by Bai Shuang Proofreader Zhang Yanjun