Old Beijing was full of courtyards, and now it's a novelty.
It is said that the courtyard that has not been demolished is very rare in Beijing, not only expensive, but also not easy to see. I used to live in the courtyard, at No. 14 ZhaoTangzi Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng District, and I lived for a long time, from 1990 to 1999 for a full decade.
Strictly speaking, this courtyard is not a Beijing courtyard in the true sense, it is a miscellaneous courtyard, but it is formally like a "courtyard". It is located in an alley only a few meters wide, diagonally opposite the 15th courtyard of the famous poet Zang Ke's family to the north. The two courtyards were like two boxes, hanging on either side of the ribbon-like alley. Not far to the east of the hutong is the Zhao Jia Lou, which was burned down during the May Fourth Movement; across the north-south road to the west, not far away is the former residence of Cai Yuanpei; No. 3 Zhao Tangzi Hutong in the north is the former residence of Zhu Qiju, a political leader of the Beiyang government; ten minutes to the southeast, is the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, my work unit, and next to the unit is the Beijing Gongyuan for the Ming and Qing examinations.
Our courtyard had two vermilion gates, facing north, and it was tall, thick, and heavy. The entrance is a long aisle, covered by a roof a few meters in front and open-air at the back; on the left is a high courtyard wall that blocks the scenery from the courtyard; on the right is a courtyard, a second courtyard, and a third courtyard, arranged from north to south. The courtyard structure is imaged by a large comb, the aisle is the handle of the comb, a few rows of houses are the teeth of the comb, several yards are the teeth of the slit, and at the end of the aisle there is a living ancient tree, which is the colored line pendant of the comb.
My family lives in the middle of the second courtyard. It is composed of two opposing rows of bungalows, the house is not high, but it is wide and stretched; the courtyard in the middle of the house is wide and the space is large; looking up at the vast sky, there are flocks of pigeons and swallows flying by from time to time. At that time, I lived in Beipai, and the child of the opposite family was called Dabao, and the son of the neighbor's family in the east of the Dabao family was called Xiaokun, who was studying in high school.
There is an old couple and the eldest daughter, the eldest son-in-law, and the eldest daughter's two sons who are taking the college entrance examination, they and Xiao Kun in the middle court are uncle brothers, that is to say, Xiao Kun's father is the son of the old couple, and Xiao Kun's parents are a pair of Shanghai Zhiqing. Remember, the eldest son-in-law of the old couple looks like Zhou Zheng, does not talk much, but is always pleasant. He was very good at cooking, often stir-frying in the small bungalow to the left of the gate, full of aroma, and the beautiful wife was very blessed.
I rarely go to the three-entry hospital (i.e. the backyard), except to go to the nearby public toilet, I have been there once or twice. Master Ji's son is a few years older than my son, and they often play together. In addition, this courtyard is a bit special, often holding my thinking and imagination, it is said that the famous scholars of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Yang Yi, Yuan Liangjun, Shi Yi and so on have lived here.
Ten years is the most memorable thing for our little family. After graduating from university, my wife was assigned to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and first rented a courtyard in Hepingli. The room was small, the floor tiles were damp and watery, and an old couple and daughter and son-in-law were very kind and gave her a lot of care. Later, the wife moved to this courtyard and walked with it for a longer time. I came to Beijing in 1993 to study for a PhD, and before that I worked in Shandong for six years, we suffered from the separation of husband and wife. At that time, every time I came to Beijing to visit my relatives, I could feel the strong affection of this small courtyard and small family. During the day our husband and wife walked on Chang'an Avenue, not far from home, and at night slept on a bed built with a few wooden planks, although there was only one room, the attached kitchen was small and damp, and in the winter, there was a self-growing coal stove, but there was no lack of warmth, especially in the distant separation, never lost confidence and hope. There was a Spring Festival, we did not go back to our hometown for the New Year, the second day of the Chinese New Year and sat on the bed to watch tv dramas, the poetic theme song of "Snow Mountain Flying Fox" illuminated our lives and left good memories.
The owners of the small courtyard love flowers, and there are all kinds of flowers in the front, middle and back yards. Spring arrives, the yard is full of flowers, purple and red, open the front window and the back window, the flowers are overflowing, you can fully enjoy the splendor of spring. In winter, snowflakes are scattered, and pieces of angelic purity and romance fall on the trees, houses, and floors of the yard, as well as on briquettes and cabbage piles used for wintering. At this time, we used tape to seal the gaps in the wooden doors and wooden windows, closed the wind and snow outside the door, and built a fire in the room, and there was a red light in the tall stove, and the heat energy quickly filled the room with spring. In those years, from preparing briquettes for winter, to installing stoves and long smoke pipes, to making fires and boiling water, although troublesome and even dangerous, they were skilled in technique, and there was never a gas poisoning accident. The fire was burning, and it burned a large pot of cold water to a creak, and the heat rose from the spout, like singing a happy song, and it was also a picture of happiness.
The son spent his childhood mainly here. He spent two years in the kindergarten opposite the courtyard. His laughter, singing, crying, and even mischievous expressions remain here. My son grew up cute and loved to read, draw and sing. He often moved a small bench early in the morning and sat quietly reading under the vine shelf in the doorway in a purple vest, with surprising concentration. From time to time, brothers, uncles, aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers were invited to watch, and he was also teased to recite classical poems, and people often conquered his super memory, and issued sighs and praises.
This small courtyard is full of warmth and beauty. Everyone made delicious food and gave it to each other, one for the child, the other for the rare fate. Sometimes, in an emergency, neighbors will take the initiative to help pick up and drop off children and help take care of children. After dinner, the children play together, and the adults will sit in the courtyard with a big fan to cool off, and the gods of the south and the sea will talk, without any birth, as if they are a family. Xiao Kun's family has the most in the courtyard, they are simple and kind, and they are highly evaluated in the front and back yards. At that time, Xiao Kun's parents were store salesmen, standing at the counter was very hard, and when they came back, they always shouted that their legs were too tired to stand. Dabao Mama is in the same unit as us, has a pair of ancient road hot sausages, and has the most contact with his wife, and the two always have endless words. Although Ji Xu's parents are tall and tall, although they are ordinary workers, they attach great importance to their children's learning and are full of respect for intellectuals. Knowing that I was a doctor, Ji Xu's father was always willing to ask this and that, with a humble and sincere attitude, although not an intellectual, but gentle and elegant. He also called my home a few years ago, and after twenty years of not seeing, our conversation was still cordial and natural. I still call Ji Xu's father Lao Ji, he always called me Xiao Wang, and now that we are all about sixty years old, the friendship that was once in a courtyard can continue like this.
I didn't have much contact with the left and right families, but there was one thing that I still remember. Next door to the east lived a Mr. Duan from the Literature Institute of our academy, who is said to have a house elsewhere, and usually rarely lives in this courtyard, and only occasionally comes to see. Once, I was rushing to write a book, because a house was very crowded and there were children making a fuss, so I asked Mr. Duan if I could write in his idle room. At first, I was not sure, and after several hesitations, I still proposed it hard. Unexpectedly, with a serious appearance, he actually agreed very happily. I picked up the clutter in his room to make room, although there was no fire, but my heart was unusually warm. That winter, after I had eaten, I opened Mr. Duan's door and shut myself inside to write a book until I completed the task quickly and satisfactorily. I didn't even know Mr. Duan, I didn't even mention the rent to him, I didn't even say anything about the tea, but he never complained, which made me see the different souls of ordinary people, which made me feel grateful.
I was young and I loved exercising. Every morning, I would run along the surrounding hutongs, and sometimes to the Gongyuan. When I was about to go home, I put down my steps and walked around the alley, enjoying the scenery: the long and winding alley hid a lot of beautiful courtyard gates, every ancient tree at the mouth of the alley was quite experienced, the old man who got up early to play tai chi was in good spirits, the refreshing wind and the blue sky made people feel relaxed, and the well-trained pigeons made a "grunting" sound from time to time.
The big tree in the yard seemed to be guarding us day and night, guarding our peace day and night, but we rarely thought about it or understood its mood. Autumn came, the leaves fluttered on the ground, swirling with the wind, and there was a feeling of homelessness; after the heavy snow, the cold wind was biting, and we all hid ourselves in our homes, its naked body still stretching unyieldingly into the sky; in the dead of night, we lay in the warm bed, but we could hear the dead branches of the trees screaming in the bone-chilling wind.
Today, the people who live in this courtyard have long gone their separate ways and scattered like birds. And that beautiful courtyard was also demolished and turned into nothing, leaving only endless memories for future generations to pursue their dreams.
The courtyard where I once lived, a small family that supported a happy and beautiful life, did not regard our hearts as our own home?
Wang Zhaosheng, born in 1963, a native of Penglai, Shandong, is a doctor of literature, professor, doctoral supervisor, and a member of the Chinese Writers Association, and enjoys a special allowance from the State Council. He is currently the deputy editor-in-chief of China Social Science Magazine and the deputy editor-in-chief of Chinese Literary Criticism. He is also a judge of the Lu Xun Literature Award, an editorial board member of Literary Criticism, a standing director of the Chinese Literary Criticism Research Association, and a director of the Literary and Art Critics Association. He has published 16 monographs, including "The Cultural Feelings of Lin Yutang", "The Spirit of Chinese Prose in the 20th Century", "The Great Biography of Lin Yutang", "Lin Yutang and Chinese Culture", "Wang Zhaosheng's Academic Self-Selected Collection", and "The Development Direction of Prose in the New Era". He has published about 300 papers in journals such as China Social Sciences and Literary Review, and more than 60 papers have been reprinted by Xinhua Digest and others. He is the author of "A Hundred Years of Chinese Sexual Spiritual Prose", "Exquisite Prose Poetry Reader" and more than 20 annual selected essays. The collection of essays includes "Heaven and Earth People's Hearts", "The Realm of Leisure", "Negative Road Hugger", "Love One Word", etc., and his works have been selected into middle school textbooks, middle and high school examination questions and prose anthologies. He won the first Bingxin Prose Theory Award, the Contemporary Writers Review Award, and the Fourth National NewspaperMan Essay Award.