Beijing once had Zhongshan Road and Zhonghua Road. Where are they?
2024-08-08
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Some time ago, Ms. Hua Xinmin, the prose writer and granddaughter of Hua Nangui, brought her edited book "Selected Works of Hua Nangui: The Passion of a Civil Engineer Across a Century" to interpret it in the Urban Revitalization Lecture Hall of Shoukai Academy. Experts such as Sun Donghu and Wu Wentao from the Beijing History Research Association and cultural scholar Jin Lei served as guests of the dialogue. Their wonderful dialogue brought a rare spiritual feast to the audience. It is worth mentioning that through the review of Mr. Hua Nangui's experience, people also have a deeper understanding of more details of Beijing's changes.
The old residence of Hua Nangui remains in Beijing
Mr. Hua Nangui, who was one of the first generation of architects in China a hundred years ago and made outstanding contributions to the urban construction of Beijing, and I have had many contacts across time and space.
First of all, the former headquarters of Shoukai Group, where I work, and the Normal School of the Imperial University of Peking (the predecessor of Peking University), where Mr. Hua studied in 1902, are both located on Shatan Back Street in the Jingshan District of the Imperial City, facing each other across the street. I often wander in the surrounding ancient streets and alleys, get to know them, study them, and am moved by them. I have written many articles about this area, especially about the most famous century-old university in modern China.
Secondly, Mr. Hua ended his study in France in 1910. After returning to China, he settled down in Wuliangdaren Hutong in Dongcheng District. He personally designed and built a house that combined Chinese and Western styles. Several generations of his family lived here for nearly a century.
It is regrettable that the houses with house numbers of 18, 19 and 20 Wuliangdaren Hutong (in 1965, the name of the hutong changed to 51, 53 and 55 Hongxing Hutong) were demolished one after another. Fortunately, another house designed and built by Mr. Hua for his family in 1915, namely the three-story European-style building at No. 6 Xiehe Hutong between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Street and Dongtangzi Hutong, was preserved and well protected.
Photo of Gui's House in South ChinaIn the 1980s, I attended Beijing No. 24 Middle School, and the school gate was located in the middle of Dongtangzi Hutong. During the six years, I often walked through Xiehe Hutong every time I went to school, and I have some memories of the three-story Western-style building of the Hua family. Interestingly, every winter, one of the physical education classes in the school was to start from the school gate and run around Hongxing Hutong, which is adjacent to the north. At that time, the old house of the Hua family was still there.
Another incident also brought Mr. Hua and I closer in time and space. At the Beijing Municipal People's Congress held in August 1949, Mr. Hua, as a representative of the meeting, submitted several proposals related to Beijing's urban construction. One proposal on "opening up several important roads to facilitate transportation" included:
Complete Jianguomen and extend East Chang'an Avenue to reach this gate, and further extend it to Tongzhou. The method should be to use the "one-way route" method, that is, Yangyi Hutong and Shuimo Hutong as the route from west to east, and Dongxi Guanyin Temple Hutong as the route from east to west.
The Shuimo Hutong mentioned in Mr. Hua's proposal is familiar and intimate to me. From the time I was born until I moved to Tuanjiehu in the third grade of junior high school, my family and I lived in a large courtyard in this ancient hutong at the foot of the ancient observatory for more than ten years.
South China Guishu Tianan Road and Zhongshan Street
Hua Nangui has a deep connection with this city. During the Republic of China, he was involved in the governance and development of Beijing.
In June 1928, the National Revolutionary Army entered Beijing, and the Beiyang government's rule in China ended. The Nanjing National Government changed Beijing to Beiping and established a special city. On August 24, Mr. Sun Yat-sen's portrait was hung on the Tiananmen Tower. Hua Nangui, then director of the Beiping Special City Public Works Bureau, submitted a proposal to the mayor He Qigong, the core content of which was:
My dear readers, all the streets have their names, but the section from Tiananmen to Zhonghuamen, the section from East and West Changanmen, and the east and west sections outside Changanmen have no fixed names, which is very inconvenient. Now we plan to name the main road in the middle from north to south, that is, the section from Tiananmen to Zhonghuamen, Tianandao; and the section from east to west between Changanmen, Zhongshan Street; from East Changanmen to Dongdan Archway, East Changan Street; from West Changanmen to Xidan Archway, West Changan Street...
I believe that most Beijingers, like me, are probably hearing place names like Tianan Road and Zhongshan Street for the first time.
Were the suggestions in Mr. Hua’s proposal implemented and what were the results?
According to Mr. Sun Donghu's article "The Mark of the Times of the Changes in Place Names in Beijing (Beiping) during the Republic of China" (Beijing History, Autumn 2020):
After the city government received the petition, the third department first reviewed it and signed its preliminary opinions for the mayor's reference. They proposed:
From Zhonghua Gate to Tiananmen Gate, it is proposed to name it Zhonghua Road, which seems to be more appropriate than Tianan Road. Also, between East and West Changan Gate, Zhongshan Street was originally planned to be changed to Zhongshan Road, which seems to be more appropriate. The rest of the proposed names are for the sake of the painting, so it seems that they can be followed. ... Thus, Zhonghua Road, Zhongshan Road, East Changan Street, and West Changan Street were named. With the large-scale reconstruction of Tiananmen Square after 1949, Zhonghua Gate and the "Zhonghua Road" named after it no longer exist, and the 516-meter-long "Zhongshan Road" in front of Tiananmen Gate and between East and West Changan Gate has become a section where East and West Changan Streets extend and connect to each other.
This article uses first-hand historical materials to sort out and verify the subsequent handling of Mr. Hua's proposal, which has benefited me a lot. Based on Mr. Sun's research, I did further research and discovered the changes of Zhongshan Road and Zhonghua Road.
As we all know, in order to move the capital to Beijing, Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty pushed the southern city wall of Yuan Dadu southward to the line of the three gates in front of it. Shuncheng Street in the old southern city wall was widened, and Chengtian Gate (renamed Tiananmen Gate in the early Qing Dynasty) was built in the middle of the north side. In front of the gate, there was a Thousand-Step Corridor. The southernmost end of the Thousand-Step Corridor was the Daming Gate (renamed Daqing Gate in the early Qing Dynasty and Zhonghua Gate in the Republic of China). In front of Chengtian Gate, there was a gate at each end: Chang'an Left Gate and Chang'an Right Gate (also called East and West Chang'an Gate in Ming and Qing Dynasty historical records). The imperial city wall was built between the gates, forming a T-shaped closed square.
The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty recorded the following in August, 1455:
First, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau reported that the observatory was located on the east side of the city, which was noisy and inconvenient, and the walls of the buildings were also damaged. They requested to move it to the base of the East Chang'an Street, where the height of the observatory would be comparable to the two towers on the West Chang'an Street...
The "two towers" refer to the famous twin towers in the Qingshou Temple built in the Jin Dynasty (to the west of the current Telegraph Building). It can be seen that the East Chang'an Street in the Ming Dynasty started from Chang'an Zuomen in the west and ended at Dongdan Archway in the east, while the West Chang'an Street started from Chang'an Youmen in the east and ended at Xidan Archway in the west.
At the same time, the area between Chengtian Gate and Daming Gate in the imperial city was called Imperial Street or Heavenly Street.
After entering the Daming Gate, the next is the Chengtian Gate, with Tianjie Street stretching across it. In front of the Chengtian Gate, the left is called the East Chang'an Gate, and the right is called the West Chang'an Gate.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the T-shaped enclosed square underwent subtle changes: three gates were set up outside the East and West Chang'an Gates. In this way, the western starting point of East Chang'an Street and the eastern starting point of West Chang'an Street were changed to three east and west gates respectively.
During the Republic of China, Zhongshan Road and Zhonghua Road coexisted
In 1913, in order to open up the traffic on Chang'an Avenue, the three gates, the East and West Chang'an Gates, and the south wall connected to them were demolished. The following year, the Qianbu Corridor was demolished, but the outer imperial city walls in the east, west and south directions were preserved.
After the renovation, the area between Dongdan Archway and Dongsan Gate became East Chang'an Street, the area between Dongsan Gate and Chang'an Left Gate became Dongsan Gate Street, the area between Chang'an Right Gate and Xisan Gate became Xisan Gate Street, the area between Xisan Gate and the south entrance of Fuyou Street became Fuqian Street, and the area between the south entrance of Fuyou Street and Xidan Archway became West Chang'an Street. The area between Chang'an Left and Right Gates and between Wumen Gate and Zhonghua Gate was not named.
Aerial photo of Chang'an Avenue during the Republic of China period, showing the three western gates, Tiananmen Gate, and the East and West Chang'an Gates.This situation continued until Mr. Hua Nangui proposed a proposal in August 1928. However, after Mr. Hua proposed the proposal, the "Beijing Special City Government Order No. 291" was implemented, and it did not "change the old names of the roads" to Zhonghua Road, Zhongshan Road, East Chang'an Street, and West Chang'an Street. The real situation is:
First, the roads on both sides of the East and West Chang'an Gate still use the old names and have not been changed.
The Latest Guide to Peking compiled by Tian Yunjin and published by Peking Ziqiang Bookstore in December 1935 and the Peking Street and Alley Directory compiled by Ma Zhixiang and published by Economic News Agency in May 1936 both recorded place names such as "East and West Chang'an Street", "East and West Sanzuomen Street" and "Fuqian Street".
Second, in actual operation, the cross streets formed by the intersections between Wumen and Zhonghuamen, East Chang'anmen and West Chang'anmen, and the east-west and north-south directions were all uniformly named Zhongshan Road. In August 1933, the Beiping Place Name Dictionary compiled by Li Bingwei and Tong Zhuoran and published by Beiping People's Publishing House clearly recorded:
Zhongshan Road: The corridor between Wumen, Tiananmen, and Zhonghuamen, as well as the cross street inside the East and West Chang'an Gates, was named Zhongshan Road.
In the "Inner Six Districts Map" of "A Brief History of Cultural Relics in the Old Capital", the section from East Chang'an Gate to West Chang'an Gate was also marked as Zhongshan Road. In the early 1930s, the "Complete Map of Peking City" compiled by Su Jiarong and published by the Rixin Geographical Society showed that the section from Wumen to Zhonghuamen was Zhongshan Road.
The north-south "Zhongshan Road" in the "Complete Map of Peking City" in the early 1930s.However, in the third volume of "The Latest Guide to Peking" published in 1935, "List of Place Names in Peking", the term "Zhonghua Road" appeared:
Zhonghua Road: Between Tiananmen Square and Zhonghua Gate (formerly Zhongshan Road).
It is inferred that the road section was renamed around 1935. Therefore, in the 1936 "Beiping Streets and Lanes Records", "Zhongshan Road: in front of Tiananmen" and "Zhonghua Road: inside Zhonghuamen" appeared.
At this time, Mr. Hua’s suggestion in August 1928 that “the section from Zhonghua Gate to Tiananmen Gate should be named Zhonghua Road... and the section between the east and west Changan Gates, originally named Zhongshan Street, should be renamed Zhongshan Road” was finally implemented.
According to some information from the Republic of China period, the northern starting point of Zhonghua Road is not Tiananmen Square, but extends northward to Wumen Gate; the north-south Zhonghua Road is divided into two sections, north and south, by the east-west Zhongshan Road in front of Tiananmen Square.
In the 1937 map, the east-west road in front of Tiananmen Square was called "Zhongshan Road".In the early 1950s, the pattern around Tiananmen Square underwent tremendous changes.
In order to speed up urban construction, the East and West Three Gates were demolished in 1951, and the East and West Chang'an Gates were demolished in 1952. However, the place names formed since 1935 have not been affected for the time being, and the place names of Zhonghua Road and Zhongshan Road still exist.
In the mid-to-late 1950s, a large-scale reconstruction project of Chang'an Avenue was implemented, which eventually formed the East and West Chang'an Avenues, starting from Dongdan intersection in the east and ending at Xidan intersection in the west, with the center line of Tiananmen Square as the dividing line. Zhongshan Road also disappeared.
In order to welcome the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tiananmen Square and its two sides underwent a large-scale renovation starting in 1958. During this period, the three imperial city walls and Zhonghua Gate were successively demolished, and the southern section of Zhonghua Road may have disappeared during this period. However, the northern section of Zhonghua Road, that is, the section from Tiananmen Jinshui Bridge to the north to Wumen Square, was preserved.
On August 3, 2007, the Beijing Municipal People's Government issued the "Notice on Temporary Traffic Management Measures During the Celebrations at Tiananmen Square for the One-Year Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games", which adopted temporary traffic management measures in the Tiananmen Square area and surrounding roads. The second measure is:
2. From 16:10 until the end of the event, pedestrians are prohibited from passing through the section from the south entrance of Chang'an Avenue to the south entrance of Nanchizi. Except for vehicles holding vehicle permits for participating in the celebration ceremony, no other vehicles and pedestrians are allowed to pass from the east of Dongxitongzi River and the south of Xiquemen (excluding) on Zhonghua Road to the north of Tiananmen Jinshui Bridge.
Apart from this, perhaps few people know that the address of Beijing Zhongshan Park is No. 4, Zhonghua Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
Based on this, I personally speculate that after the viewing platforms on the east and west sides of the Tiananmen Gate Tower were completed in the 1950s, the narrow passage formed between the viewing platforms and Zhongshan Park, the two sides of the Tiananmen Gate Tower, and the south wall of the Workers' Cultural Palace (Taimiao) was incorporated into the scope of Zhonghua Road and has been in use to this day.
