Gongjian Hutong

Gongjian Hutong

Gongjian Hutong, located in the east of Xicheng District, was built in 1965. Gongjian hutong is located in the east of Xicheng District, with a total length of more than 600 meters, starting from Di'anmen West Street in the north and reaching Jingshan back street in the south.

Historical evolution

According to the history of the Ming Palace and the official records of the Ming Dynasty, the inner palace supervisor is one of the 24 yamen of the Ming Dynasty. He is in charge of wood, stone, tile, earth, building materials, eastbound, westbound, painting, wedding, gunpowder, rice and salt storehouse, construction storehouse, imperial altar storehouse, and other official mausoleums, bronze and tin dowry vessels and ice kilns. After entering the Qing Dynasty, it was abandoned, but it was handed down as a place name and called neigongjian Hutong. After the Republic of China, the homonym of "Nei" and "Gongjian" was "Gongjian", which means gentleness, courtesy and thrift.

Characteristics of Hutong

There are one to five lanes in the west of Gongjian Hutong, which was originally called neigongjian. Hutong used to have four wells (there are four wells at the wellhead), which was renamed as four wells after the Republic of China. In 1965, the lane was located in the west of Gongjian Hutong, the first lane from north to south, so it was named. And so on. Gongjianhu

In the east of the same area, there is the rice grain depot, which is the location of the rice salt depot at the time of returning. Later, "salt" was mistakenly named "grain" and was named today. In the north of the rice storehouse, there was painting. In the Ming Dynasty, the painting of neigongyan was here. To the north, there is Xilou Hutong, formerly known as the West Lane of Di'anmen, which is an alley on the west side of Di'anmen. It is located in the west of Di'anmen, so it is named. There is yanyilou at the north end of the east entrance of Xilou Hutong, which was demolished in 1999 due to the improvement of Ping'an Avenue. At the south entrance of Gongjian Hutong, there are large and small stone hutongs, which used to be the site of the stone work of the inner palace supervisor. After the analysis for the size of two hutongs. It is wide in the West and thin in the East. The wide one is called big, and the thin one is called small. Xiaoshizuo hutong is now merged into jingshanqian street. Gongjian hutong is located between the back door of Beihai Park and Di'anmen. The south entrance of the hutong is Jingshan Park, and further south is the Palace Museum. It belongs to the old imperial city. Therefore, a street at the north entrance of Hutong was formerly called Huangchenggen, that is, Ping'an Avenue. Our family has lived in Gongjian Hutong since 1960.

Gongjian Hutong was called neigongjian Hutong in Qing Dynasty, which was the place where the eunuchs lived. In 1924, general Feng Yuxiang launched a coup in Beijing, expelling the abdicated last Qing emperor from the Palace Museum. The eunuchs in the palace also dispersed, some returned to their hometown in the suburbs of Beijing, some moved to Xuanwu District, and the inner palace Hutong gradually became the residence of the common people. No one wants to live here and be regarded as a eunuch, so everyone thought of our traditional virtues - respect and diligence and thrift, and changed the name of this alley to Gongjian alley.

When I lived in Gongjian Hutong, there was a eunuch surnamed Yan who was in his 70s. I call him uncle Yan. Mr. Yan has a round face, smooth skin, and looks like an old lady. He speaks in a soft voice. His height and behavior can vaguely make people feel that he has a kind of gentle masculinity, which is different from the eunuch in TV dramas. Mr. Yan sometimes walks in the street. Passers-by ask him the way and call him "aunt". He didn't explain, he just pointed out the direction to the passers-by.

Hutong culture

Gongjian hutong is located in the east of Xicheng District, with a total length of more than 600 meters, starting from Di'anmen West Street in the north and reaching Jingshan back street in the south. At the north entrance of Di'anmen West Street, there is Shichahai Scenic Area and the north gate of Beihai Park. At the south entrance, just one street away from the Royal Garden Jingshan Park, there is the imperial palace. It's only 20 minutes' walk from here. There are many scenic spots around, and most of them are historical scenic spots, which makes it always see an endless stream of tourists and travel teams in various places nearby.

According to historical records, Gongjian Hutong was originally named "neigongjian Hutong" because it was set up here in the Ming Dynasty. Later, in the Republic of China, it went to "Nei" and replaced "Gongjian" with the homonym "Gongjian". The word "Gong Jian" comes from the word "Gong Jian" in "Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Rang" in the Analects of Confucius, which means to respect others, respect oneself, and be diligent and thrifty. The inner palace supervisor was one of the 24 Yamen in the Ming Dynasty, which involved almost all aspects of the royal life. According to the geographical division of the imperial city at that time, Gongjian Hutong was a part of the imperial city at that time. That is to say, only people in the palace could enter the former Gongjian Hutong, and outsiders and ordinary people could not get close to it.

Walking into the Hutong, some small retail shops, bicycles leaning against the wall, clothes hanging by a rope on the street, some bricks and tiles piled up at the door of several renovated homes and so on, all the scenes full of life can be seen everywhere. And some private cars parking in the hutongs make the originally not wide hutongs become more and more narrow. In Gongjian Hutong, from time to time, you can see some elders and aunts gathering together to chat about their home habits. Cyclists who ride bicycles to remind passers-by according to their age walk through the Hutong. There are also a few children playing here. All of these can add fun to your tour.

Not far away, in the west of the alley, you can see a sign that says Gongjian Lane 2. Then go south along Gongjian lane, you will see three lanes, four lanes and five lanes one after another. In the east of the Hutong, there is a Hutong intersecting with it, which is called "mopanyuan Hutong", because you can walk around it. In addition, it used to be a Mopan workshop. Listen, it's still a very interesting Hutong. In Gongjian's five alleys, each is only thirty or fifty meters, and they are still dead alleys. The first four alleys are plain, with only some ordinary houses in them. At the end of the lane, there is a vermilion gate, which is renovated and antique, revealing a sense of nobility, making passers-by look at it. Through the plaque in front of the door, it reveals its face: Gongjian ice cellar.

Gongjian ice cellar used to be the exclusive ice cellar of the royal family and was transformed into a private restaurant. And before we doubt whether the common people can have this lucky to enjoy the cool, now also have the answer. In ancient times, this ice cellar was exclusive to the royal family. Even ordinary relatives could not own it. As for the common people, it was an extravagant hope. In those days, there were four such ice cellars in the capital, with a total of 18. Now only Gongjian ice cellar and Xuechi ice cellar, which we will visit next, have survived.

The whole ice cellar is a semi underground arch structure building, four meters above the ground and three meters below the ground. The hall is the outer room of the ice cellar, and the inner room of the ice cellar can only be reached through a small door and several stairs, similar to our basement today. The inner room is divided into two halls, one for dining and the other for storage. Hanging on the wall are some self-made explanatory notes, which record the history and origin of the Royal ice cellar in detail, and tell the diners and visitors about its extraordinary past. In those days, every winter, workers would go to the adjacent Beihai sea to dig ice cubes, and then transport them here for storage. In summer, they would take them out for the imperial palace to cool down.

Address: West of Beihai Park, Xicheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.39371537055

Latitude: 39.930842113542

Ticket information: no ticket required.

Chinese PinYin : Gong Jian Hu Tong