When talking about Beijing, hutongs naturally come to mind; when talking about hutongs, Beijing naturally comes to mind. But Hutong did not originate in Beijing. Its name came from the Yuan Dynasty. Hutong only uses Chinese characters to record the Mongolian pronunciation. According to research, it is the transliteration of the Mongolian word "water well". How could "lane" be related to water well? Woolen cloth?
It turns out that when Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, ordered the construction of a new city in the old city of Beijing more than 720 years ago, the residents’ domestic water was obtained from wells drilled in the alleys. Mongolia People are accustomed to using wells to refer to alleys, so they call them "alleys". As time went by, Hutong became a trendy language and became popular, becoming a general name for alleys.
When it comes to Beijing’s hutongs, most of them can be called “longevity stars.” Most of the basic layout of today's inner city was laid down in the Yuan Dynasty. Although the outer city was built in the later Jiajing period, some of the alleys outside the first three gates adjacent to the city gates and main roads existed long before the construction of the outer city. Some of them can be dated to the early Ming Dynasty, or even earlier.
In this way, when it comes to the age of Beijing’s hutongs, those 200 to 300 years old are considered young, those 400 to 500 years old are common, those 600 to 700 years old are not uncommon, and those 1800 to 1800 years old are not uncommon. Just take a hutong in Beijing and it is older than the founding history of many countries in the world today. Can this alone be said to be the pride of Beijing’s history and culture?
Although the term "Hutong" refers to small streets and alleys, the specific names of the same small streets and alleys are different between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the Republic of China and the Qing Dynasty, and after the founding of New China and the Republic of China. The names of alleys, both inherited and changed, have various origins.
One of the most eye-catching things about Beijing’s hutongs is the repetition of names: Suzhou Hutongs, Tizi Hutongs, Gongxian Hutongs, they are everywhere. Suzhou Hutongs are inhabited by Beijingers and southerners whose native place is Hangzhou. Gongxian Hutong is a pictographic name relative to Gongbei Hutong.
There are many hutongs in Beijing named after wells, such as Longtou Well, Tianshui Well, Nanjing Hutong, Beijing Hutong, Wangfujing, etc. This is because water is scarce in the north, and cooking, laundry, etc. use a lot of water. , so people at that time felt indescribable happiness after digging a well, so they named the street after the well.
Some are counted, such as Dongdansantiao and Dongshishitiao. Sometimes a famous person once lived in this alley, such as Wuliang Master Hutong and Wangpi Hutong because there was a cobbler named Wang. Some are places where certain industries are concentrated. Handkerchief Alley probably sold handkerchiefs, and Mutton Alley must have originally sold mutton.
Beijing’s hutongs are places where crouching tigers, hidden dragons are hidden. Mr. Lao She was born in Xiaoyangquan Hutong, and his character has obvious Hutong imprints. He is calm and ordinary, and does not show off. Faye Wong also came to the stage from the Hutongs of Beijing... However, there are more little people in the Hutongs. There are no dazzling lights in their lives. Most of them live by themselves and accept the changing circumstances. They have been "submissive people" all their lives, but they are still exciting and vivid.
Beijing people often said in the past: "There are three hundred and sixty-six famous alleys, but the nameless alleys are like a cow's hair." "Nine Alleys", there were 413 alleys in total. By the Ming Dynasty, there were 1,170 streets and alleys in Beijing, of which 459 were directly called hutongs. In the Qing Dynasty, the streets and alleys in Beijing that were directly called hutongs were from the Ming Dynasty. More than double, with 978. After the founding of New China, many new streets and alleys were added to Beijing. For example, in 1982, there were about 1,316 streets and alleys in Beijing directly called hutongs.
Today, the number of Hutongs in Beijing is far less than before. However, Hutongs, as one of the symbols of old Beijing, still attract Chinese and foreign tourists to pursue history and explore Chinese culture.
(Author: Zhao Jianhui)
The origin of Beijing Hutongs
There are currently four theories about the origin of Beijing Hutongs: One is that it originated from a well ( Zhang Qingchang's "Hutong and Others"), the second theory is derived from "Haote" (Cao Ersi's "Beijing Hutong Congtan"); the third theory is derived from "Huren Datong" (Shen Bang's "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes"), the fourth theory is derived from "Wanshu Miscellanies" Fire Lane (Wang Xiaofang's "The Origin of Beijing Hutongs").
The book "The Origin of Beijing Hutongs" writes: According to research, many old street names in Beijing follow the names of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The name of Hutong also started in the Yuan Dynasty. However, it was not called Hutong at that time, but Huonong and Nongtong. It can be seen that hutongs evolved from Huonong and Nongtong.
The streets and lanes in Tokyo (now Kaifeng) and Lin'an (now Hangzhou), the capitals of the Song Dynasty, were also called fire lanes. In ancient my country, fire alleys refer to the intervals left between building groups during urban planning. They are usually passages and are facilities to prevent the spread of fire in the event of a fire.
The "Jingshi Fang Alley Chronicles" written by Zhu Yixin of the Qing Dynasty said: "The great ceremony of the Yuan Dynasty is called the Fire Alley. The Hutong is the turn of the Fire Alley." He also pointed out that all the Hutongs in Beijing are recorded one by one. Several water wells (similar to the role of modern fire hydrants). For example, Wangfujing. In the Ming Dynasty, Wangfujing was called "Ten Princes' Palace". There is at least one water well in each palace, and there are also large sweet wells, small sweet wells, etc. dotted around.
Mr. Zhu also quoted "Wu Shi" as saying: "To the north of the new house is the ceremonial supervisor, and to the south is the royal horse supervisor. There is a street east and west of the new house, and there are first, second, and third companies in the north and south, and so on. There are wells at each intersection. "There are two wells and three wells between the east and west Gaofang Hutong, which are the places with one, two and three wells." It can be seen that Beijing is called "three wells" and "four wells". The alley with "wells" evolved from the three and four wells in the Ming Dynasty. It is not that there were three or four wells here.
Among the place names in Beijing, some are named after numerical numbers, but if they are taken literally, it will often make a joke. Like Beijing's "Three Gates", it is located not far to the east outside the south gate of Beihai Park. The so-called "three gates" are not three gates, but one gate. However, the gate format is three coupon-shaped door openings, hence the name. In addition, on the left and right sides in front of Tiananmen Gate, there were three east and west gates in the early years, which were also designed in this way.
The former water town - Zhongguancun
The middle-ranking officials are also eunuchs. Some people infer that Zhongguancun evolved from the "Zhongguan Tomb". But looking at ancient maps, we can see that in ancient times this place was all waters, with dense springs, no less than the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. What's more, the tombs of famous eunuchs in Beijing were mostly located in the Xishan Modekou and Xiangshan areas in the Ming Dynasty; in the Qing Dynasty, they were mostly located in Enji Village outside Fuchengmen. Today, there are still husbands (i.e. eunuchs) in Sijiqing Township. Grave Village. Eunuch cemeteries are generally plain with a ground elevation of 45 meters, such as the tomb of Li Lianying. How could a eunuch be buried in the springs of Haidian? Moreover, there is no documented record of a eunuch being buried in the area of ??present-day Zhongguancun.
On the "Map of the Western Suburbs of Beijing" (1912 edition) and the "Actual Map of the Four Suburbs of Beijing" (1915 edition) collected by the National Library, the location of today's Zhongguancun is marked with the place name "Zhongwan", and there are also nearby There are "front bay", "back bay" and so on: "bay" means water bay. In the maps of Beijing published in 1918 and 1928, the place name "Zhongguan" first appeared. In 1932, the name "Zhongguancun" was included in the "Directory of Streets and Villages Affiliated to Beiping Municipality". It can be seen that Zhongguancun should have evolved from "Zhongwan'er".
Place names with "tiger" are not necessarily related to tigers
There are two "tiger cities" in Beijing, one behind Zhantan Temple in Xi'anmen and the other in Yuanmingyuan. Both places were where the royal family of the Ming and Qing Dynasties tamed tigers. It is said that there were places where tigers were raised at Hufang Bridge and Hufang Road, but no remains can be found. The Crouching Tiger Bridge on Jingshan West Street, the Divine Tiger Bridge in front of Zizhuyuan (originally four tiger stone sculptures, it is said that a tiger ran at night, and only three tigers were left, so it was renamed "Three Tiger Bridge"), and the Tiger Temple. The streets and alleys are all named after the presence of tiger eagles.
Beijing also has two Shihu Hutong: Xidan has a "Little Shihu Hutong", so named because of the stone tiger at the entrance. There is a right-wing religious school in the alley during the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty. Many royal children studied here, and Cao Xueqin taught here. There is also a Shihu Hutong on Deshengmen Inner Street, called "Dashihu Hutong". At that time, the stone tigers in the Big Stone Tiger Alley were lifelike and mighty, more than 1 meter tall and weighing more than a thousand kilograms, in a squatting posture. The stone tigers in the Little Stone Tiger Alley were young tigers lying on stone pillars. Although they were small in size, their carving skills were outstanding. Delicate, beautiful and graceful.
Many of the Hu names in Beijing have "tiger" in them, such as "Tiger Cave", "Tiger Window", "Tiger Tail", etc., but they have nothing to do with tigers.
The "Pu" in the streets of Beijing
Speaking of the "Pu" in Beijing, they generally have two functions: one is responsible for the timely delivery of official documents. In ancient times, transportation was very limited, and all official documents had to be delivered by people or horses. Among them, human walking delivery is called "post", and horse riding delivery is called "yi". Therefore, there is a post station every dozens of miles along the main roads across the country, and horses are equipped for the purpose of delivering letters to and from.
When encountering an urgent official letter, the postman could not rush back to his home to rest that day, so he would stay overnight at the post station. Therefore, these places for the post station workers to rest are called bunshe. There is also a "shop" responsible for maintaining public security and patrolling.
"Wan Shu Miscellaneous Notes" records: "There are twelve shops in Wanping County, and each shop has a shop clerk, who will hand it over to the official document corner and hand it out on time. There are three shop soldiers. , there are forty-six people in each round. "It is written in "The Legacy of the Old Capital" that there are thirty-six shops in the inner red shop. "There are ten flag troops in each bunk. They are guarded day and night. There are twenty-eight bronze bells. Every night at watch time, the bells are issued from the first bunk at the right gate. The military picks up a bell and rings it to the second bunk. It is passed one after another to the left gate. The first shop is closed, and the bell will be sent to the first shop at Youque Gate for storage the next day."
The outer red shop is outside the imperial city. There are seventy-two shops in total, symbolizing the seventy-two periods (in ancient times, five days were considered one period, one month was six periods, and three periods were one solar term. One period) The year is divided into twenty-four solar terms and seventy-two periods). "There are also ten flag troops guarding each bunk, guarding them day and night." There were seventy-eight copper bells, but two were lost in the tenth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1497), leaving only seventy-six. "Every night, the bell starts from the first shop of West Chang'an Gate and is passed on one after another to the first shop of East Chang'an Gate." Baipu is a watchdog in various streets and alleys. It is responsible for the security of streets and alleys and is under the command of the Wucheng Military and Horse Division.
Beijing place names such as Liupu Kang, Majiapu, Shilipu, Shuangquanpu, etc., in addition to performing the above tasks, are also responsible for monitoring fire and water conditions and preventing fires and floods.
The longest streets and alleys in Beijing
The longest streets and alleys: Most of the place names in Beijing contain the words "east, west, south, north" or "inner and outer" , and mostly symmetrical. For example, "East Fourth Archway" and "West Fourth Archway", "Deshengmen Outer Street" and "Deshengmen Inner Street", etc. Therefore, some people say that in addition to East and West Chang'an Street, East and West Jiaomin Lane is the longest, which is 2632 meters (1552 meters and 080 meters). In fact, Gulou East-West Street is longer, 2668 meters (1098 meters + 1570 meters).
The shortest street: 50 years ago, the author read a book called "Peking Travel Guide" and said that the shortest street in Peking is Wenjin Street. At the beginning of the last century, Wenjin Street had only one house number, the National Peking Library, and the street was only a hundred meters long. Later, someone wrote a book saying that Yichi Street at the east entrance of Dong Liulichang is the shortest street, only a few dozen meters long. But after this street was merged into Yangmeizhu Xiejie, it no longer had a name.
Nowadays, the shortest alley in Beijing should be Kuache Hutong, which is about 40 meters long and has only one house number, which is the former residence of Qi Baishi. Outside the south entrance of the alley is Picai Hutong. Today, Kuache Hutong is an “enclave”. If the police from the household registration section of the police station want to go to Qi's house to check their household registration, they have to cross Picai Hutong to enter. In Beijing, this geographical environment is unique.
The oldest alley: Longtoujing, called Longdao Village in the Tang Dynasty. In 1956, during the construction of Chantan Temple West Street (today's Aimin Street), an ancient tomb from the Tang Dynasty was unearthed. The owner of the tomb was Zhou Yuanchang. The epitaph said: "Buried in the third year of Kaicheng (883), seven miles northeast of Jicheng, Longdao "The ancient plains of Longdao, namely Longdao Village, belong to the boundary of Lixian Township, Youdu County. In 1976, during the construction of Beihai Middle School in Jiaochang Hutong, Di'anmen West Street, another Tang Dynasty tomb was unearthed. This is a tomb for a couple. The male owner's name is Song Zaichu, and his wife is Cai. The epitaph reads: "On the 15th day of the first lunar month in the 13th year of Dazhong (859), the epitaph was placed 120 steps southwest of Longdao Village, Lixian Township, Youdu County." Therefore, based on the epitaphs unearthed from these two places, The inscription takes Beihai Middle School as the starting point and measures 120 steps northwest from there, which is the location of today's Longtoujing Street.