Hutong is an ancient urban alley unique to Beijing. It has a history of more than 800 years and criss-crosses around the imperial city. Hutongs are not only the traffic network of the city, but also the place where ordinary people live. As a stage for the development of Beijing's history and culture, it has witnessed the changes of history and the style of the times, leaving many imprints of social life and retaining the original old Beijing folk customs.
However, with the development of the times, the memory of the old Beijing hutongs has gradually become blurred. I don’t know if the things that have been accumulated for hundreds of years will disappear one day, so I walked slowly in this quiet alley to find The mark in the depths of the alley, and use it to find childhood memories...
In the years and years, there are always some old things and some memories that will touch the softness of your heart. I hope the story of this trip can move you, and I would like to present this document to us born in the 1980s.

Historian Alley Museum

It used to be an examination room for the Qing Empire to select students to study in the United States. It used to be a place where powerful officials lived, as well as wealthy merchants. Even Prince William of England made a special trip to visit here. This is Shijia Hutong. A small alley, but has experienced half of modern history. The Shijia Hutong Museum is located at No. 24 Hutong.

The Shijia Hutong Museum is the first Hutong-themed museum in Beijing. Officially opened to the public on October 19, 2013, this is a hutong museum that records the history and culture of Shijia Hutong and carries the memory of old Beijing.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he looked up and saw this little guy—Mynah. Speaking of raising birds, it was originally a hobby of the disciples of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty. In the past, "carrying cages and racking birds" was a derogatory term for those who were idle and did not do production. Later, though, the hobby spread, and most bird keepers were basically elderly people.
The birdcages hanging in the courtyard of the museum vividly reproduce a part of the life of the residents in the Hutong back then, allowing people to recall the life in the Hutong at that time. And the mynah in the cage can also be regarded as a little star in the museum. It is common to whistle or say a few words. With this little guy, the yard seems to be alive all of a sudden.

Standing in the courtyard of the museum, the uneven ground and the decoration imitating the period of the Republic of China make people feel as if they have returned to the old days. Although the courtyard is a renovated building, the bricks on the ground are not flat new bricks, but old bricks one by one.
In fact, as early as 2010, when the renovation of No. 24 courtyard in Shijia Hutong was planned, the construction party collected the old bricks left over from the renovation of the courtyard. The bricks used to pave the ground are all treasures "picked up" from the construction waste that residents have to dispose of. Some bricks still have cement left on them.

Speaking of courtyard No. 24 where the Shijia Hutong Museum is located, it was originally the former residence of Ling Shuhua, a talented woman in the Republic of China. At that time, she often held gatherings of painters and celebrities in the courtyard where she lived, which was called "the big study of the young lady's house". Later, Ling Shuhua's daughter transferred the courtyard for public welfare. Because of the profound cultural background of Shijia Hutong, it retained the original appearance of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, so this museum was built to inherit the beauty of the old Beijing Hutong.

On the gate of the multifunctional hall in the museum, the style of the gate of the Hutong house is displayed in detail. If you walk into a hutong, the first thing that catches people's eyes is the gates of different sizes and shapes, which is a unique and beautiful scenery in Beijing hutongs. The color tone of Beijing Hutong is gray, which forms an extremely strong contrast with the resplendent and majestic imperial city with red walls, and highlights the majesty of the emperor even more. As the capital of a country, the strict hierarchical system of the feudal society is also clearly reflected in the hutongs. From the courtyards with strict specifications to the gates of various shapes, and even brick by brick, all of them abide by the etiquette system and have a clear hierarchy.

The Shijia Hutong Museum has a total of eight exhibition halls, namely the history of historians, the cradle of arts and crafts, modern education, Lan Zhixiefang, hutong celebrities, memory of the times, nostalgic life, new appearance of the century, and there is also an alley sound experience.

❈The first exhibition hall, history of historians

In the early Ming Dynasty, the northern city wall of Yuan Dadu moved southward, and the area where Shijia Hutong was located belonged to Huanghuafang. The reason for the name of the Shijia Hutong has not been verified, but it is generally said that it was named after the "big historians" who lived in this alley in the Ming Dynasty. It is also said that it got its name from Shi Kefa, a minister of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, there were clear regulations on the management of hutongs: "Every house that invades the streets and alleys will be demolished." At that time, the building system of hutongs was regular, and the architectural context of Shijia Hutong is basically inherited from this.

In the nineteenth year of Yongle (1421), Ming Chengzu Zhu Di officially moved the capital to Beijing, rebuilt the Beijing city on the basis of Yuan Dadu, and built thousands of bungalows in the Bell and Drum Tower, Dongsi, Xisi, Chaoyangmen and other places. Some of them invite civilians from other places to live, and some invite businessmen to live in and rent, so as to promote the prosperity of Beijing's business. All of a sudden, hotels and inns lined up one after another, shops and shopfronts appeared one after another, and department stores gathered in a dazzling array. "The Picture of Accumulated Victory in the Imperial Capital" depicts the prosperity of Beijing, and Shijia Hutong gradually prospered on this basis.
The book "Five Cities, Lanes, Alleys and Alleys in Beijing" written by Zhang Jue in the Ming Dynasty recorded that there were more than 900 hutongs in the inner city of Beijing and more than 300 hutongs in the outer city during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the area where Shijia Hutong is located belongs to Huanghuafang.

After the Qing Dynasty established Beijing as its capital, the overall layout of the capital remained basically unchanged. However, the living pattern of residents in Beijing has undergone fundamental changes, and the banner people live separately. The inner city of the capital is divided into eight banners, guarding the imperial residence. The area of ​​Shijia Hutong in Qing Dynasty belonged to Xiangbai Banner.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, the rule of the Qing Dynasty gradually declined, and the capital society became semi-colonial. Under this influence, the phenomenon that the Manchus and Hans in Beijing lived separately in the inner and outer cities began to change. In the map of Beijing in 1900, the chaos of the division of the coalition forces appeared.
During the period of the Republic of China, a large number of people flooded into Beijing, and the upstarts with real power chose the increasingly prosperous Dongcheng as their place of residence. Shijia Hutong was no longer exclusive to the Bannermen. After the Republic of China, there were many reconstruction projects in Beijing. Especially in order to meet the needs of the time, the city's access system was greatly adjusted, but it had no major impact on the overall layout of Beijing.
After liberation, with the progress of modernization and large-scale population growth, some dilapidated bungalows in the inner city of Beijing were successively demolished and buildings were built. At the same time, some original streets and alleys were merged, and a new thing called "community" appeared. Shijia Hutong also changed in the new historical period. At present, Shijia Hutong community has 15 buildings and 82 bungalows. Among them, most of the buildings are built in the early period of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and most of the bungalows and courtyards are well preserved.

In the center of the first exhibition hall, there is a three-dimensional model sand table of the entire Shijia Hutong, which is nearly 21 square meters in size and scaled down to a scale of 1:100. It can be said to be the treasure of the museum. This group of model sand tables is made based on the surveying and mapping aerial photos in 1957 and 1959, as well as the detailed information provided by many teachers in the Beijing Archives.
As the background of the model, the museum shows an aerial photo of Shijia Hutong taken in 2009. Comparing the model, we can clearly see the changes of Shijia Hutong in the past 50 years.

Such an exquisite and realistic courtyard model may not only show the historical rings of a hutong, but also a microcosm of the old Beijing culture that continues to this day.

Model of Courtyard No. 23 in Shijia Hutong. Courtyard No. 23 of Shijia Hutong is located on the north side of the middle section of Shijia Hutong, facing south. General Peng Mingzhi once lived here, and he was fortunate enough to retain the general style of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

Model of Courtyard No. 51 in Shijia Hutong. No. 51 Shijia Hutong, the old house number 24, is located on the north side of the west section of Shijia Hutong, facing south. It was originally a courtyard with three entrances. Later, the third entrance courtyard was separated and another street gate was opened on the south side of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Street. Form an independent courtyard. No. 51 Shijia Hutong finally formed a two-entry courtyard. In the south of the street facade, there was a "one-character shadow wall" inside the gate, which was demolished in 1985. The second entrance courtyard has a main room and 3 east and west wing rooms, surrounded by chaoshou verandas in the courtyard; there are 1 side rooms on the left and right sides of the main room. The interior decoration of the main room is in the style of the Qing Dynasty; the partition in the northern Baoxia part is composed of two octagonal screen doors. There is a pavilion-style bookcase on the top of the screen door with railings facing the sky. There is a staircase leading to the bookcase in the Xili room. There are blue screens. There are crabapple, apple and other trees planted in the courtyard, and the environment is elegant.
In 1960, Zhang Shizhao was admitted to this hospital; after his death, his daughter Zhang Hanzhi and Qiao Guanhua lived in this hospital. In 2011, No. 51 Shijia Hutong was listed as a Beijing municipal cultural relic protection unit.

Hutong courtyard building components, collected from Dengcao Hutong.

Brick and stone components

There are old and new house numbers of Shijia Hutong on the wall

❈The second exhibition hall, the cradle of human art

No. 20 Shijia Hutong, No. 56 courtyard of the old house is the cradle of Beijing art. Several generations of artists from Renyi, old, middle-aged and young, have lived and worked here, and many classic repertoires from Renyi are inextricably linked with this place.

In 1950, the North China People's Art Troupe was expanded and renamed Beijing People's Art Theater (now commonly known as "Old People's Art"), becoming a comprehensive art troupe including opera, drama, dance, orchestra and other art forms. Courtyard No. 56 (now Courtyard No. 20) in Shijia Hutong was established as a collective dormitory for theater actors. In the same year, Mr. Lao She wrote the play "Longxugou" for "Old People's Art". The director of this drama is Mr. Jiao Juyin, and all members of the crew are "residents" living in No. 56 courtyard. The performance of this drama laid the cornerstone of the realistic artistic style for Beijing Renyi.
On June 12, 1952, the "Old People's Arts" repertory troupe merged with the repertory troupe affiliated to the former Central Academy of Drama, and a professional repertory theater affiliated to Beijing was established in No. 56 Courtyard - Beijing People's Art Theater. Since then, the older generation of "artists" in this courtyard began their pursuit of art and youth dreams, exploring and establishing the realistic artistic style of Beijing Human Art. Therefore, in a sense, this is the cradle of Beijing Renyi.

Costumes of Peking Chinese Academy of Drama founded by Jiao Juyin

❈The third exhibition hall, modern education
In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), Shijia Hutong took root in the education field. At that time, the Qing Dynasty established the Left Wing Zongxue at the west entrance of the Hutong, specializing in educating the children of the Eight Banners. It can be called a private school for Manchu education in the Qing Dynasty, and it has a history of more than 200 years.
Left-wing Zongxue declined, and the Historian Hutong in the late Qing Dynasty became a must-go place for students studying abroad. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Youmei Academic Affairs Office, which used Boxer indemnity to study abroad, was located in this alley. In May 1909, the Qing government formulated the "Outline of the Measures for Sending Overseas Students", and the "Academic Affairs Office" was composed of officials sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education to be responsible for examination selection, management, dispatch, and liaison. The Office of Academic Affairs was first set up in Houwei Hutong, and later moved to Shijia Hutong, so the examination room was naturally set up here.
Although there are only 3 batches of exams here, the Yumei Academic Affairs Office really has a lot of background. It turned out that the government had intended to build Tsinghua Park back then, but the school was not built overnight. These three selection exams were held in Shijia Hutong. After that, the government no longer came forward to organize the exams, but Tsinghua University, which had already been established, selected students to study in the United States. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the predecessor of Tsinghua University was located in Shijia Hutong. There are many celebrities who passed the exam here: Zhao Yuanren, who later became a linguist, Hu Shi, who was the president of Peking University, Mei Yiqi, who was the lifelong president of Tsinghua University, Zhu Kezhen, a famous meteorologist in my country, and so on.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Zuoyi Zongxue was changed to Municipal No. 2 Middle School. In the 1930s, No. 2 Middle School moved to Neiwubu Street, which is across from Shijia Hutong Street. At the end of the 1930s, Shijia Hutong Primary School was established on the site of the former Municipal No. 2 Middle School. Until now, these two schools are also the best schools in the city, and they are first-class schools.

❈The fourth exhibition hall, Lan Zhixiefang

Courtyard No. 24, where the Shijia Hutong Museum is located, was originally the former residence of Ling Shuhua, a talented woman in the Republic of China. Ling Shuhua's father, Ling Fupeng, was born in a wealthy family in Guangdong. Ling Fupeng is not only a high official, but also good at poetry and loves painting. Qi Baishi, Yao Mangfu, Wang Yun, Chen Yinke and other famous figures were all guests of the Ling family. Influenced by these cultural atmospheres, Ling Shuhua showed his talent for painting at an early age.

Ling Shuhua learned from Miao Suyun, a famous female artist and the favorite painter of the Empress Dowager Cixi, as her teacher. She was also educated by Gu Hongming, who was known as a generation of eccentrics in the cultural and art circles at that time, so that she laid the foundation of classical poetry and English. When she was seven or eight years old, she also studied under the famous landscape orchid and bamboo painter Wang Zhulin, and later learned painting from the female painter Hao Shuyu. At that time, Ling Shuhua often held gatherings of painters and celebrities in the courtyard where he lived, which was called "the big study of the young lady's house".
This study was more than ten years earlier than Lin Huiyin's "wife's living room", and was even more famous at the time. The most famous "guest of honor" was Tagore. In the spring of 1924, Tagore was invited to visit Beijing. At that time, the Beijing Art Association organized by Chen Hengke and Qi Baishi was going to be held in the study of Ling Shuhua's home. Ling Shuhua invited him to the meeting because he knew a painter who accompanied Tagore on his visit to China. As soon as Ling Shuhua met, he asked Tagore: "Today is an art fair, do you dare to ask if you can also paint?" Tagore impromptu painted lotus leaves and Buddha statues on the sandalwood pieces Ling Shuhua had prepared.

It was also at this painting fair that Ling Shuhua met Xu Zhimo and Chen Xiying, who were appointed by Peking University to accompany Tagore, and later these two became frequent visitors of Ling's residence. Behind her conservative father's back, she had a secret love with Chen Xiying for more than two years. It was not until 1926 that the two lovers begged an elder to come forward, and Ling Fupeng agreed to her daughter's marriage with Chen Xiying. And a dowry of this talented woman is 99 houses with a back garden-the latter is where the museum is today.

Later, Ling Shuhua lived abroad for more than 30 years, but still had an inseparable love for this house. At the end of 1989, Ling Shuhua felt that there were not many days to come, and she made up her mind to return to her home in Beijing in the last days. In May 1990, when Ling Shuhua was dying, she was carried by her daughter and grandson on a stretcher to the place where she was born 90 years ago—the Shijia Hutong Kindergarten where many celebrities later spent their childhood. It is said that when she was carried into the courtyard, she whispered like she did when she was a child: "Mom is waiting for me to go home for dinner."

❈The Fifth Exhibition Hall, Alley Celebrities

Shijia Hutong not only has a long history, but also has a large number of celebrities, involving the political, military, academic, art circles, etc. There are so many celebrities who have lived in one hutong, which can be counted as one of the few in Beijing.

❈Exhibition Hall Six, Memory of the Times
Hutong life is a microcosm of old Beijing folk life. These old objects carry the precious memories of our parents or grandparents, allowing us to relive this nostalgic time.

The yellowed old photos in the window, the furniture, objects, diaries, and photos that have been touched for a long time, those waves that fade away but occasionally flash in the depths of memory, have something in common to dye our past. There are things worth cherishing in everyone's life. These old objects may be inconspicuous to others, but to the parties concerned, they have special meaning. Maybe they are not expensive, maybe they have long been shelved. But they have witnessed every bit of life in this ancient alley......

In the exhibition hall of memory of the times, there is a small workshop like a recording studio, where the original old Beijing sounds are recorded. The room is equipped with professional audio equipment, and you can hear different "hutong sounds" just by clicking on the touch screen.

The melodious Erhua voice of Beijingers, the sound of opera in a courtyard, the shouting of candied haws in an alley, the whispering of cicadas, the rustling of leaves, the whistle of pigeons from far to near, and from near to far...
You just need to walk in here, travel through time and space through the sound, feel the story behind the sound, and meet the ancient Beijing city...

❈The seventh exhibition hall, nostalgic life
All kinds of old objects reproduce the scenes of Hutong life at that time.

"Memories of the 1950s and 1960s" house furnishings
When New China was first established, a lot of waste was waiting to be rebuilt, and people's living standards were not very rich. Most of the dwellings of urban residents in this period were small in size, with brick floors, large white walls, wooden doors and windows, one bed and one table, two chairs and two boxes, and simple plywood wooden furniture. Human-powered sewing machines, semiconductor radios, and mechanical watches were all "big items" during this period. Honeycomb coal stoves were used to boil water and cook rice, fountain pens to write and write, green military caps and military coats, and enamel cups and bowls were available in every family. It has become a classic memory of the 1950s and 1960s.

How does the bicycle light turn on? It still depends on the thing called "motorized light" next to the bicycle tire. It is actually a storage battery.

"Memories of the 1970s and 1980s" house furnishings
Since the reform and opening up, the economy has developed rapidly, people's living standards have been significantly improved, and everyone has begun to pay attention to their living environment. Household furnishings during this period have undergone earth-shaking changes. "Assembly furniture sofa bed, black and white TV in the center. Three brick houses with concrete floor, rent a truck to pick up the bride." became a buzzword in the 1970s and 1980s. Household appliances such as combined wardrobes, black and white TV sets, single-door refrigerators, horizontal-bar washing machines, and transistor radios became the symbols of this period.

The small bamboo cart in the photo is really impressive. I used to ride it when I was young. Thinking about it now, it is full of memories.

❈The eighth exhibition hall, the new look of the century
An exhibition of the achievements of the toilet revolution in Dongcheng District is being staged here.

After visiting the museum, you can also rest and enjoy the coolness under the pergola in the small courtyard. It is said that the courtyards in Beijing, in addition to ancient buildings and historical and cultural stories, are also full of flowers and trees. As the saying goes, "There are flowers in spring, moon in autumn, cool wind in summer and snow in winter", the small courtyard with sparse flowers and trees is so yearning.

There is a saying in old Beijing, "Pomegranate trees in the canopy fish tank, the husband is a fat dog and a fat girl", which is a vivid portrayal of the life of a well-to-do family in the old Beijing. In the small courtyard of the Shijia Hutong Museum, several pomegranate trees were also planted.

About pomegranates, ancient literati wrote countless poems, including Su Shi's "After a little rain, the little lotus turns over, and the pomegranates are about to bloom"; there is also Yang Wanli's "But pomegranates know the beginning of summer, and they bloom every year at this time", But I prefer Li Shangyin's "It used to be lonely, golden ember and dark, and there is no news of pomegranate red".

Next to the Shijia Hutong Museum, there is also a cultural and creative society, which is full of life elements of old Beijing, but also blends the cultural creativity of the new era.

The products in the small shop all have the charm of old Beijing, and many things from childhood can be seen here.

Many scenes of life in the alleys are painted on the tiles, which is very interesting.

The common alley street signs have also become rare creative objects.