Dashilan Subdistrict
() (also known as Dashilanr
or Dashilar
with
Erhua
Erhua ( ); also called erization or rhotacization of syllable finals) is a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the "er" (注音:, common words: 、、) sound (transcribed in IPA as ) to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese. Erhuayin () i ...
) is a subdistrict on eastern side of
Xicheng District
Xicheng District () is a district of Beijing. Xicheng District spans , covering the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road - the eastern half is Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District), and has 706,691 inhabitant ...
,
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China.
Dashilan is also a famous business street outside
Qianmen
Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, literally meaning "Gate of the Zenith Sun"), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guar ...
. Now the term Dashilan is also used to refer to the area comprising, besides Dashilan itself, also the Langfang Toutiao Lane, Liangshidian Street and Meishi Street.
Description
Dashilanr is located to the south of
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...
, west of Qianmen Street. The overall length of Dashilanr is 275m from east to west.
[ Because of the overall improvement of business environment in Beijing, the heart of retail business is no longer in the area of ]Qianmen
Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, literally meaning "Gate of the Zenith Sun"), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guar ...
and the business position Dashilanr once held is also on the wane. Except some China Time-honored Brand
China Time-honored Brand ( Chinese: ''Zhonghua lao zihao'' 中华老字号 or simply ''lao zihao'' 老字号) is a title granted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China to Chinese enterprises that existed before 1956, sell ...
s (), most of the present shops and stores of Dashilanr are offering goods of poor qualities at low prices. Meanwhile, there are many lawless men perpetrating frauds and extortion on the street.
History
In the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the name "Dashilanr" had not yet been recorded in the work of Zhang Zhupo, "Blocks and Streets in the Five Boroughs of Beijing". Only Langfang Toutiao, Langfang Ertiao, Langfang Santiao and Langfang Sitiao existed to the west of the road which was outside Qianmen
Qianmen () is the colloquial name for Zhengyangmen (; Manchu:; Möllendorff:tob šun-i duka, literally meaning "Gate of the Zenith Sun"), a gate in Beijing's historic city wall. The gate is situated to the south of Tiananmen Square and once guar ...
. Langfang Sitiao was located in the same place as modern-day Dashilanr. It can be inferred that the place name “Dashilanr” did not exist in the Ming dynasty. The so-called "Langfang" is often referred to as a storeroom along the street. Although the name "Dashilanr" was not used in the Ming dynasty, the place where Dashilanr situated was already a flourishing commercial district, with many merchants gathering.
In 1488, in order to secure the public safety of the capital, the central government built wooden fences at all the entrances to the streets and lanes in Beijing.[ The fence was accomplished with contributions from the local residents, and the total number of the fences was more than 1,700 by the end of the ]Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. Among them, the Langfang Sitiao street's fence was funded by the merchants. For this reason, the fence was extremely large and thus got the name "Dashilanr". With the passage of time, "Dashilanr" gradually became the formal name of the street replacing "Langfang Sitiao".
In 1899, Dashilanr caught fire and the wooden fence was burnt.[ Since then, the fence has practically disappeared, leaving only the name "Dashilanr" itself. It was not until the year of 2000 that the Beijing government rebuilt an iron fence at the entrance of Dashilanr.
]
Administrative Division
As of 2021, there are a total of 9 communities under the subdistrict:
Shops and stores
For centuries, the traditional commercial street Dashilanr has held quite a few China Time-honored Brand
China Time-honored Brand ( Chinese: ''Zhonghua lao zihao'' 中华老字号 or simply ''lao zihao'' 老字号) is a title granted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China to Chinese enterprises that existed before 1956, sell ...
s () which are well-known in China. The China Time-honored Brand
China Time-honored Brand ( Chinese: ''Zhonghua lao zihao'' 中华老字号 or simply ''lao zihao'' 老字号) is a title granted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China to Chinese enterprises that existed before 1956, sell ...
s, such as Tongrentang
Tong Ren Tang (TRT; ) is a Chinese pharmaceutical company founded in 1669, which is now the largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The company headquarters are in Beijing and is engaged in both manufacture and retail sales, o ...
() Chinese herbal medicine store, Rui Fu Xiang
The Ruifuxiang Silk Store () is a chain of silk stores in eastern China.
The Ruifuxiang stores were founded by Meng Hongsheng, a descendant of the Confucian philosopher Mencius (Chinese family name Meng)
from Jiujun County to the north of Zhan ...
() silk store, Ma Ju Yuan () hat store, Nei Lian Sheng () shoe store, Zhang Yi Yuan () tea shop, and Liu Bi Ju () pickle shop, as well as Yi Pin Zhai (), Bu Ying Zhai (), Ju Shun He (), Chang Sheng Kui (), are over 100 years old.
There once was a saying in Beijing, "Wear the hats of Ma Ju Yuan, stand in the shoes of Nei Lian Sheng, wear the clothes of Ba Da Xiang, and take the money of Si Da Heng Banks." Ma Ju Yuan, Nei Lian Sheng, Ba Da Xiang () and Si Da Heng () are all stores located in Dashilanr that are taken as the symbols of wealth.
Dashilanr was also the former entertainment center of Beijing apart from the commercial center. There were five grand Chinese opera
Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
theaters in Dashilanr: Qingle Yuan (), Sanqing Yuan (), Guangde Lou (), Guanghe Yuan (), Tongle Yuan (); the first movie theater in Beijing, Daguan Lou (), also situated there. In former times there were many brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s and opium den
An opium den was an establishment in which opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America, and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were fr ...
s in the area.
Education
One school in this area is Tan'er Hutong (Coal Lane) Elementary School (S: 炭儿胡同小学, T: 炭兒胡同小學, P: ''Tàn'er Hútòng Xiǎoxué''). According to Michael Meyer, the author of ''The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City'' and a former teacher at Tan'er Hutong, the school had no gazetteer that recorded the history, the principal was not aware of the school history, and historical texts did not document the school's history; Meyer explained that " took months to assemble" his written history on the school and that he had gathered information by "talking to people in the lanes like Mr. Xie."[Meyer]
p. 150
Meyer's account says that the school first opened in 1950. Meyer states that originally it was a private school named Solemn Honor Elementary School. Meyer explains that, in 1956 the school was renamed Religious Service Temple Elementary School, due to the school's proximity to a religious temple, and became a government-operated school. Meyer states that, during that year, the school's name changed to Demonstrate Strength School. According to Meyer, in 1957 the school moved to a new location and adopted the name West Canal Bank School; the name referred to the school's location, adjacent to a stream of water that travels along the city wall. Meyer's account states that the school adopted the new name Front Gate West Street Elementary and Middle School in 1974. According to Meyer, in 1981 the elementary division separated into its own school, and began classes in a campus along Tan'er Hutong.[
During Meyer's period as a teacher, due to a widening project affecting Tan'er Hutong street, a different area elementary school was closed and demolished. Its employees and students were dispersed to various schools. Tan'er Hutong Elementary took two teachers and their students.][Meyer]
p. 89
Landmark
* Ji Xiaolan Residence
The Ji Xiaolan Residence is located at No. 241 West Main Street at Zhushikou in Beijing, China. It was originally the residence of Yue Zhongqi ( 岳鍾琪), (a descendant of Yue Fei), the Minister of War (兵部尚書) and Governor-General of Sh ...
* Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre
The Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre (), located on a hutong in the Xuanwu District of Beijing, is one of the best-known Beijing opera theatres. It is also one of the oldest wooden theatres in China. Zhengyici means a temple (''ci'') for Zhengyi ...
See also
*List of township-level divisions of Beijing
This is a list of township-level divisions of the municipality of Beijing, People's Republic of China (PRC). After province, prefecture, and county-level divisions, township-level divisions constitute the formal fourth-level administrative divi ...
References
External links and further reading
* Meyer, Michael. ''The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City''. Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
, May 26, 2009. , 9780802717504.
*Rawsthorn, Alice.
In China, Reviving an Ancient City and Its Craft Traditions
" ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. November 2, 2012.
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Streets in Beijing
Xicheng District
Chinese handicrafts
Neighbourhoods of Beijing
Red-light districts in China
Subdistricts of Beijing