Small Hutong, Big world

曼德琳

                                           Small Hutong, Big worldOn April 8th, I followed Old Beijing Photograph Team on a photograph visit to Shijia Hutong. I felt so excited with this photograph trip as this is my first time to touch genuine old Beijing culture. At the end of the trip, it turned to me that the small Hutong speaks a universe of facts and truth, from people to folk customs, from social system to the nature. It can be just to say that there is a big world within the small Hutong.                                                                                     Small Hutong and celebrityWhen we entered the Hutong, we happened to encounter an old man who grew up in the Hutong. Thanks to his information, we become confirmed that there lived quite a few famous people in the Shijia Hutong. It might be true that they were just people in great fame and we needn’t care so much about it. But why did all of these people choose this place to live in or visit here frequently? There are reasons behind indeed.Geographically, Shijia Hutong was located in the gold zone of the eastern part of the old Forbidden City. Starting here, it is both 1km around from west of here to the palace, and from south to Dongdan Archway and Changan Street , half a kilometer from north to Dongsi Archway and from east to Chaoyangmen Old city wall. Nearby there are also a few famous temples like Dongyue Temple, Longfu Temple, Zhihua Temple, Qingzhen Temple, Daci Yanfu etc. temples. Another temple is the Erlang Temple, which is also called “Dog God Temple”. This temple is left but a headless dog in front of an accessories shop today. It is noted that this temple is in the same line from east to west with the Zhonghe Dian of the Forbidden City, which is but 2 km away from the temple. It is concluded that this Hutong was close to the air of royal family.Historically, Shijia Hutong is connected to Chinese revolution and culture. Courtyard 39 was the home of a big writer named Liang Shiqiu, Courtyard 51 was once the home of Education General Director Mr. Shizhao Zhang. In the beginning of the 20 century, there arranged a test here for the students sitting exams for study in USA. Courtyard 13 is where the Beijing No.2 Middle School sits in. This school is almost 285 years old. At the moment of our photographing there, we happened to see students in uniform leaving school from the gate. It is Sunday that day and it turned to me that this street is really a cultural historic street due to the thick study air here and these diligent students.                                                                                                                                     Small Hutong and system studyHutong is the passageway between courtyards, which suggests that the history of Hutong is connected to history of courtyards. Walking through the wretched archway and walls, wecame to see a special courtyard consisting of three halls. At the first threshold there sits an old door block in square shape, at the second there is another door block in round shape, while at the third one there is square door block. According to the explanation of following photography members, these blocks indicate different identities. The square ones means the man who possessed this courtyard was a military general, while the round one means the man was a civil general. Apparently these blocks suggest that in the old system identity suggests importance and difference, every being is supposed to have a name for specific reference.However, with the years gone by, these stone blocks have become as motly and blurred as other buildings in the courtyard. Walking in the courtyards, we feel like reading a live history book. According to history record, Shijia Hutong has been built since Yuan Dynasty as a Hutong among the first planning program. Therefore, it is just to say that change of dynasty can be seen from the features of these building.                                                                                                    Small Hutong and big WorldWhen walking through the Hutong, we saw there are many beautiful paintings and design in front of the door of courtyards such as carved lattice window, inscribed tablet, tile carving, vermilion gates, in addition to Floral-Cpendant Gates and Lotus Pendants, all of which are typical of old Beijing courtyard. Even though many houses have been left marks by passing of days, those building still reflect the steps of heavy history and the golden times once the courtyard experienced. I even think that these buildings reflect old living philosophy. Different from modern high buildings, every courtyard is connected to nature from construction and decoration. It is very common to see birds , flowers, animals in the face of the courtyards or at the top of house , on the tiles. Almost from every corner, you can find a part of nature around the courtyards. What could be more comfortable to live in a house like this? What is more, every design signifies a certain virtue or character. A courtyard is also strong in a cultural air. Through the study of these designs, we can understand a lot about customs and culture of the old society.With development of city, Hutong is about to face the destination of disappearing. In some way, it is said not to satisfy the needs of people it houses in. It is also presumed that this is an inevitable result of big wave of commercial economy. However, is it really due to the fact that human cannot integrate perfectly history and reality or they are more used to rebuild history after destroying it? As for other historic problem, this is also the challenge Hutong is facing. Maybe, days will pass by, history will become older and older. But for the people who grew up in Hutong, their memory of Hutong will never fade. For people who respect history and understand mission of culture, Hutong is forever a live teaching book of Beijing history.

[此贴子已经被作者于2012/4/21 15:13:56编辑过]

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