Old things in the south

Chapter 36
Liulichang, Changdian, Haiwang Village Park
Whenever I see someone write about Beiping's Liulichang-Changdian-Haiwangcun Park, don't mention how kind it is, the scene of that place will float in my mind, the warm current flows through my body, and the streets in that area immediately rush to my eyes.I lived near here for many years, from childhood to adulthood.No matter in the sun or in the cold wind, no matter where you go—going out or returning home, you almost have to pass through this famous cultural street in Beiping that has lasted for 200 years from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China—— Liulichang.My family lived in the area of ​​Liulichang three times: Chunshushang Ertiao, Nanliu Lane and Yongguangsi Street.There are also Hufang Bridge and Liangjiayuan where they once lived, which are also within the scope of Daliulichang.

The west end of Liulichang is commonly known as the west gate of Liulichang. The origin of the name is because there is an iron archway with the words "West Gate of Liulichang" on it, which is set up on the west end of Liulichang.On the north side of Tiepailou Xia Road, there is a mutton bed and a workshop for making brushes. I have a deep impression on them, because every morning when I pass by the mutton bed to go to the primary school attached to the Normal University, live sheep are being slaughtered at the door, bloody. A sheep, whose white wool was stained with red blood, was dead and lying on the ground on the street. When passing by, it was frightened and detoured; but when it came back from school in the afternoon, the delicious roast lamb had been cooked.I like to eat a set of sesame sauce biscuits with roasted mutton in the afternoon, and then drink a bottle of soda from Yuquan Mountain. The lamb that was slaughtered in the morning has long been forgotten. As for the brush workshop, it is on the right hand side of a gate. in the house.Thought I was going to buy a brush?No, I went to buy a scrap pen tube that was cut off to an inch long, it was very cheap, and it was all for little girls.Holding a large bag of pen tubes in my hand, when I came home, I threaded them on a long and strong silk rope to become a bamboo skipping rope.The bamboo skipping rope makes a crisp sound when it hits the ground, adding to the joy of skipping.However, if the bamboo tube is thrown to the ground, it will break after a long time, so it needs to be mended and put on again.

After school, after passing the west gate of the factory and walking a short distance, you will arrive at the deer horn alley where Lei Wanchuntang Ejiao deer antler shop is located; in the glass window facing you, there is a pair of huge deer horns. A display of specimens selling deer antler donkey-hide gelatin.There are one or two old men in robes sitting in the store all the year round. I think this pair of antlers and the old man have been there for more than 20 years.When I saw the deer horns turning to the left (the Peking dialect should say "turn south"), I first saw Jingwozi (the main background of my childhood story written in my book "Old Things in the South of the City"), and then I arrived at my earliest home in Beijing. There are two.

Literati love to mention Liulichang, because it is a cultural street. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, I don’t know how many literati have written about Liulichang; children or women love to mention Changdian, because "visiting Changdian" is the time when Beijing celebrates the New Year. A place similar to a temple fair.Changdian is a place called "Haiwang Village Park" at the junction of East and West Liulichang; the park is actually a courtyard with a circle of houses around it.There are lotus ponds and rockery in the yard, but no one visits on weekdays.One side of the park faces South Xinhua Street, which is a school street. The Normal University (in the early years, the Beijing Normal University, which later became the first national normal university in the country) and the Primary School Attached to the Normal University face both sides of the road, and the High School Attached to the Normal University is in the factory. Dian behind.This cultural street includes new and old books, pens, inks, papers and inkstones, inscriptions, calligraphy and paintings, gold and stone carvings, cultural antiques, and large, middle and primary schools, adding to the cultural atmosphere of the ancient city. I was fortunate to grow up in Beiping for 25 years. I have lived near this nationally famous cultural street for nearly 20 years. Although I am very familiar with this street, it is a pity that I am not like me, and I have not even cultivated a little ancient cultural atmosphere!

My father-in-law Mr. Xia Renhu (Haozhichao) said at the beginning of his book "Old Beijing Trivia" that "Yu Yiyi was born in the Beijing Dynasty during the [-] Movement", and I can also say that I "entered Beijing at the age of five"!My late mother told me that the process of entering Beijing was as follows:

At the beginning of March 1922, I went to Shanghai with my parents on the Japanese ship "Ocean Maru" from my hometown in Taiwan.I met Mr. Lian Yatang and his wife on the Dayang Maru. My mother said that they might have gone to Japan to see the exposition.The situation at that time was like this, my mother was seasick and lay in the cabin all day, and I often ran around on the deck. Mr. Lian Yatang saw me, a kid from the same country, and talked to me, so he knew my parents.He knew that we were going to Beijing, and he also suggested that we should go to Liulichang to engrave a seal when we go to Beijing, which is the best place.In this way, we first knew that there was a Liulichang in Beijing on the Dayang Maru.It's funny, but also destined.

When I first arrived in Beijing, I temporarily stayed in an inn called "Qian'an Inn" in Zhushikou, next to the famous First Stage, (the first time I saw a Beijing opera was on the first stage, it was a compulsory play, including famous actors from all over Beijing , Li Wanchun was a famous child actress at that time.) Soon we moved to Chunshushang Ertiao, and I began to receive a comprehensive Chinese education in Beijing.

One rainy day, my uncle took me to the primary school attached to the Normal University to take an exam. No matter how naughty I was, I was still a little girl who was afraid of the exam.It was just from the downstairs of a row of classrooms to the upstairs.Go in and out of each classroom, stop at each desk, and wait for the teacher to ask you what (such as recognizing colors) and what to do (such as embedding wooden models of different shapes into the same-shaped concave holes) In order to test the ear sound, the teacher clasped his hands tightly and stretched out a place one foot away from each ear, and asked the examinee to point out the sound of the second hand of the watch on which side. I studied in the famous "Changdian Primary School" for six years, which laid a good foundation for my education.

Every morning, I ate a set of fried dough sticks, packed my schoolbag and walked out of Ertiao’s house on Chunshushang. I walked out of the alley, saw Jingwozi, saw deer horns, saw live sheep being slaughtered, and walked through the entire Xiliulichang. You can see old bookstores, new bookstores, southern paper shops, picture-mounting shops, antique shops, brush and ink shops, ink cartridge shops, lettering shops, etc. on both sides of the street.I am a child who received a complete education in a new-style primary school. I have been in this ancient cultural street for more than 20 years. I have almost never touched the atmosphere and understanding of second-hand bookstores written by literati and scholars.

Enter through the gate of the attached primary school. On the left side of the playground are the first and second grade classrooms, and then the first year classrooms go inward.The school separates the front and rear playgrounds and grade progress by the auditorium.When you pass through the auditorium, you will suddenly see the big playground, where all school meetings and sports meetings are held.The building on the right side of the big playground is the building for my entrance exam, and it is also the classroom building for the fourth grade and above.There is a row of bungalows at the top of the playground, which are the library and sewing classroom.In the third grade, girls learn to sew, and boys learn to saw boards and drive nails in the workshop in the front yard.

Fat teacher Zheng taught us to sew.I started to learn straight stitches and reverse stitches, then I learned how to make handkerchiefs, lock dog teeth, and then I learned how to make cattail bags, nail sequins, embroider cross-stitches... The works with good grades are still locked in glass cabinets for exhibition !But what I love most are the books displayed on the shelves in this double library.What impressed me most about these extracurricular readings were the world famous works translated by Lin Qinnan published by the Commercial Press.Most of the titles of Western classics that we still use today are translated by Lin, especially some movies adapted from famous works are staged in China. "Record", "The Rest of the Meat", "The Heroes After the Catastrophe", "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Encounter of Monte Cristo", "The Story of Heroes", etc., are not the titles of the original works, but Lin Qinnan gave them.Everyone knows that Mrs. Lam does not know English well. There is a joke that he put a homonym for "Bingtanghulu" next to the word "beautiful" in English.He doesn't translate the books word by word, he writes them into plain classical Chinese based on what the dictator tells, so each book is not thick.When I was in the third and fourth grades of elementary school, novels translated by Lin were still popular, and they could be borrowed in our small library.I swallowed the jujube wholeheartedly, and actually read a lot of Lin's translations with half understanding.I didn't expect that I, a primary school student who hadn't been exposed to Chinese new literature and art, would read Western novels first. This is really strange.

"Old Beijing Suoji" written by my father-in-law, there are several places where Liulichang was written. He once wrote:
... Liulichang is a gathering place for calligraphy, painting and antique shops.Those who are in charge of various shops often have more knowledge of catalogs and identification than scholars.Yu Bu lived among them, and he always said that the servants in the city also had a bit of a bookish air.Gai can read and write, and he is also polite. ...

The old man said that "Yu Bu lived in it" because his husband-in-law Xia's family had lived in the south of the city for decades, and both houses were in the area of ​​Liulichang.In the early years, I lived in an alley next to the Normal University on South Xinhua Street called "Anping Lane". I heard from my husband that the back playground of the Normal University was outside the back wall. If you go to class at the Normal University, you will not go through the main entrance of the Normal University.Later, it was moved to Yongguangsi Street, which is a little down from the west gate of the factory. Of course, the old man also passed through the street of Liulichang when he came in and out.

I once read an article written by someone close to me, which also talked about the mood of the second-hand bookstore in Liulichang:
... When you walk into the threshold of a dark and humble bookstore, the old owner, wearing a long-sleeved robe made of homemade cloth and holding a copper hookah in his hand, is accompanied by a smile and yawns to welcome you out.Covered in that kind of quiet air, surrounded by some "splendid" picture albums, I reached out and pulled out a scripture book from the shelf to flip through it, put it down and find a set of scriptures to read, and after reading a paper, I looked for another passage poetic.Really, if you feel that the universe is so big, it is only contained in these tens of thousands of thread-bound books, so you can't help but make you forget all the trivial things around you, and feel an indescribable interest. I can't think of a suitable one here. Nouns are used to explain this kind of interest, let's call it "poetic"...

(End of this chapter)