Beijing’s Cultural Circle: Liulichang Street

Ban Hongyue is a Beijinger. He is a professional screenwriter， whose main works including Wanquan Lake Murder， Capturer， Jigsaw Puzzle， and so on. He also participates in the screenwriting of films and TV plays， including Peking Opera Cat， Magic Academy， Bonnie Squad， etc. As a Beijinger， he has been interested in anecdotes in old Beijing since childhood. He has read the records on folklore from seniors， such as Qi Rushan and Jin Shoushen， visited many elderly people who have gone through the trials and tribulations of old Beijing and have stories of old Beijing， and traveled around the old streets， old alleys， temples and towers， and monuments of old Beijing.

Hutongs in old Beijing show the most authentic local customs of Beijing and tell the most touching stories of old Beijing. A hutong， the most beautiful landscape painting in old Beijing， is the most important carrier of the old culture in Beijing， connecting all parts of old Beijing.

Hutong with an Eight-hundred-year History: a Book from the Fantastic Old Beijing Series

Ban Hongyue

Beijing Daily Press

September 2020

39.80 (CNY)

Liulichang (colored glaze factory) Street， reaching Yanshou (life extension) Street in Xicheng District in the east and North and South Willow Alley in Xicheng District in the west， with a total length of about 800 meters， is a famous cultural street in Beijing.

Liulichang was called “Haiwangcun” in the Liao Dynasty (907--1125). At that time， it was not in the city but in the suburbs. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271--1368)， the government established an official kiln here to fire encaustic tiles， so it was also known as “Liulichang”. In the Ming Dynasty (1368--1644)， the scale of the official kiln was expanded as well as the inner city and the palace. Thus， Liulichang became one of the five major kiln plants of the imperial official kilns. In 1544， Beijing was expanded， and the outer city was built so that the location of Liulichang was changed from outside the city to inside the city. Due to the inconvenience of firing kilns in the city， the official kiln was moved to Liuli Village in Mentougou， but the name of Liulichang was kept.

In the early Qing Dynasty (1644--1912)， the Manchu and Han residents of Beijing lived separately. Namely， the Manchu nobles and soldiers lived in the inner city， while the Han people， both bureaucrats and civilians， lived in the outer city. Since Liulichang was outside the city， for many Han officials and candidates for the imperial examinations going to Beijing for the exam， it became a place to gather.

Therefore， the bookfairs in Qianmen， Dengshikou and around Chenghuang Temple in Xicheng District， which have been lively since the Ming Dynasty， gradually were moved to Liulichang. Then booksellers from different places set up stalls and built houses to sell a large number of books here， turning it into the largest book fair in the capital. As a result， Liulichang gradually became a cultural street with a galaxy of talents， and all the cultural items (brushes， ink sticks， paper， inkstones， antiques， paintings， and calligraphy) also had a place in Liulichang.

Liulichang was home to famous time-honored stores， such as Huaiyinshanfang， Guyizhai， Ruichengzhai， Yidege， Li Fushou Brush Store， etc. There was the largest bookstore in China selling old books， and three major publishers were also located here， namely the Commercial Press， Zhong Hua Book Company， and World Book Company.

It was said that the road in Liulichang Street was still a dirt road then， and the street was lined with stores one after another. In one or two bookstores， bookshelves around the four walls were full of books， each book with a tag reading the title and price of the book. Next to the window of the inner room was an old-fashioned square table for eight people， which was painted and made of elm. On both sides of the table were fauteuils， an old-fashioned wooden armchair. Couplets were hung on the wall， and the content of the couplets were related to books.

Books played a major role in Liulichang for a long time， especially in the ten years of the reign of Emperor Qianlong when he ordered to compile the Si Ku Quan Shu --- a complete library in the four branches of literature. At that time， in order to research literary quotations， the compilers gave a detailed bibliography and often visited Liulichang for books they needed. So， booksellers in various regions went to Liulichang to sell their rare and valued books， making Liulichang a center of pooling books from around the world. Hundreds of old bookstores and rare ancient books could be found here. There were just several occasional antiques， calligraphy， and painting stores. The publishing industry also began to appear， and it was all woodblock printing， which was time-consuming and labor-consuming. At the end of the Qing Dynasty， as the imperial examination system was abolished， no one bought the old books in Liulichang. Then bookstores declined rapidly， and the stores dealing with antiques， calligraphy， and painting were booming. The antique industry has become the mainstream in Liulichang， far outperforming the bookstore industry.

Except for bookstores， antique stores were most common in Liulichang. Antiques were curios. The word “antiques” in Chinese was from the mouth of some literati， meaning elegant items collected by the literati at the corner of Liulichang. Ordinary people didn’t have good taste in these items; they were for those with certain historical and cultural knowledge， which was a must. Antique stores were for the rich， and generally， poor intellectuals could only choose and buy some cheap and fine old books from the old bookstalls.

After the Republic of China， bookstores， industries of bookstores and antique stores， etc. in Liulichang gradually declined， especially during the War of Resistance against Japan when Peking was occupied. At that time， almost all the shops suffered from sluggish business， and even many shops were closed down.

However， Rongbaozhai， one of the oldest stores in Liulichang， has survived.

Rongbaozhai， formerly known as Songzhuzhai Southern Paper Shop and founded in 1672， has over 300 years of history. Its founder， surnamed Zhang， was a candidate for the imperial examination from Zhejiang who came to Beijing to take the exam. But Chang’an (Now Xi’an) was full of talents， so it was hard to gain a foothold. Therefore he opened this southern paper shop. In the beginning， the main business was gua bi dan of renowned masters of calligraphy， paintings， and seals， from which Songzhuzhai earned the commission. Gua bi dan was the charge standard of literati. The creator needed to be recommended by a noted master. The more well-known the master was， the higher the charge was. At the same time， the artists bought brushes， ink sticks， paper， and inkstones from here， and the income was also stable.

Later， Songzhuzhai gradually took up the business of the official documents and memorials to the throne. The memorial to the throne could not be treated with even the slightest carelessness， the paper must be pure without flaw. Songzhuzhai was very careful about this， and each piece of paper was required to be checked by more than a dozen people. A piece of paper with a little flaw would be thrown amongst the defective products. So， despite a higher price than other rivals， it was still in great demand.

After the Opium War， China experienced a hard time in economic development， during which Songzhuzhai was struggling as well. Later， the store owner hired Zhuang Huchen as the shopkeeper and changed the store’s name to “Rongbaozhai”. Under the painstaking management of Zhuang Huchen， Rongbaozhai was transformed and reborn.

Zhuang Hucheng’s contribution to Rongbaozhai was meritorious， and he had been the shopkeeper for several decades till his death in 1928.