Dazhao (Wuliang Temple) Hohhot City four-A tourist attraction, is a place for people living nearby to relax after tea and dinner, and is also a must-see spot for tourists to come to Hohhot. Before 1996, there used to be a well-known alley here - Dazhao Dongcang. Out of nostalgia, I often go to Dazhao to visit, find a few old people in the old city to catch up, and talk about common things. Therefore, whenever I came to Dazhao, out of instinct, I always involuntarily went to Dazhao Guangcheng Gate (the blue brick door on the east side of the ticket window of Dazhao) to see the piece that was nailed to the door hole 44 years ago (1975) was more than a foot long, and white letters on a red background read "Dazhao Dongcang"
Guangchengmen street sign
of the painted iron street signs. Looking at this street sign that is now the only one hanging in the urban area, I suddenly recalled the lively and extraordinary city scene in the warehouse. In just over 20 years, after the renovation and construction of the old city, the old appearance of Dazhao Dongcang has gone forever, and the buildings such as the noodle shop, storytelling house, noodle restaurant, villain bookstore and other buildings in the warehouse (except for the five old houses of the Lama Printing Office in Naturalized City were left behind, and now the Dazhao Fire Brigade occupies them) disappeared from the map along with its streets and alleys, but the only street sign that can prove the dusty Dazhao Dongcang remained. It can be said that this street sign is the historical evidence of Dazhao Dongcang.
Guangchengmen
Dazhao Dongcang, the name of the old street. It is 248 meters long, about 10 meters wide, and the middle width can reach more than 20 meters. It is located on the east side of Dazhao Mountain Gate, the east cang gate is made of blue bricks, the upper part of the door is inlaid with a piece of white marble, engraved with Mongolian, Han and Tibetan characters "Guangcheng Gate". There are brick carvings on the lintel "Heavenly Maiden Holding Tower" and "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls". The white marble stone carving at the bottom is "Lion Rolling Hydrangea", "Sending Son Guanyin", "Deer and Crane with Song" and "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls". Entering Guangchengmen, it is Dazhao Dongcang Market. To the east of Dongcang is Dazhao East Jiadao (the name of the old street), and the south is Dazhao Front Street, which is called Dazhaoqian by the locals. From the Republic of China to 1996, Dazhao Dongcang was a place of folk entertainment in the old town of Hohhot, and enjoyed the reputation of "Beijing Flyover". Dazhao Dongcang starts from Guangcheng Gate in the south, reaches Jiujian Building in the north, goes about 50 meters to the west and then goes south and returns to Guanghua Gate on the west side of Dazhao Mountain Gate. This old place name may be a very unfamiliar word to the citizens who live in Hohhot today. In 2015, when I hand-drew the "Streets and Alleys of the Old City of Hohhot in the Seventies of the 20th Century" and sent it to the Inner Mongolia Map Institute for review, the relevant personnel canceled the name of Dazhao Dongcang Street marked in the streets and alleys, saying: "I have never heard of Hohhot and the name of 'Dazhao Dongcang', as well as 'Sandwich Road' and 'Dao'." I took a picture of the 'Dazhao Dongcang' street sign and sent it to get recognized. If it weren't for this street sign, imagine that this street would not have existed. Compiled by the Hohhot Municipal People's Government, the "Hohhot Gazetteer" published in 1985 included the street name of "Dazhao Dongcang". When I was a child, I heard Tao Lan, director of the sales department of the sugar industry, tobacco and liquor cooperative head office on the east side of Dazhao Guangchengmen, said: The formation of the market in Dazhao Dongcang should be in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. However, it is inferred that the market should have been formed in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and the details can only be understood from the old citizens.
According to the old city elders who lived in the Dazhao area in their early years and witnessed the Dazhao Dongcang, Dazhao was one of the earliest commercial outlets formed in Hohhot. It was also the most prosperous place in the early years. There are many teahouses, restaurants, theaters and shops in the surrounding area outside Dongcang. Lu Gongdao, knife and scissors shop, Wang Yiti plaster shop, Shuangyiyuan dumpling, Detaiyu pharmacy, Qingchunyuan teahouse, Gonghe Hospital, Gonghe Theater, People's Theater, Peace Cinema and many sugar tobacco and liquor stores, local products stores, Dazhao Post Office, Chunfeng Photography, Guangheyi pickle stores, thrift entrusted stores, barber shops, shoe repair shops, non-staple food stores, raw and cooked meat stores are scattered around, and in the past, only Dazhao could form this prosperous area and market.
When you enter the warehouse from Guangcheng Gate, the first thing you see is the famous Dazhao Noodle Restaurant and Dazhao Noodle Restaurant. What you hear is the sound of music pulling bellows. To the north, there are fixed shops such as shaving shops, storytellers, villain bookstores, etc., in addition, the streets along the East Cang are also full of all kinds of tricks and beaches. The shouts of the artists and the juggling of gongs and drums are endless, especially the bustling and lively Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng in the early years, just like the Tianqiao Market in Beijing. Those who pull foreign films, those who do tricks, those who play acrobatics, those who practice martial arts, those who play monkeys, those who play birds, those who play with their mouths, those who sell dog skin plasters, those who sell stupid, and those who sell seasonal snacks (fried cakes, big pills, soybeans, cold cakes, cold powder, sweet sticks, etc.), in short, there are all kinds of people in Dazhao Dongcang. In the past, there was a good saying: Dazhao Dongcang took a walk, and in addition to buying and selling, he was fooled.
The most interesting thing in Dazhao Dongcang is to play birds and monkeys, and to learn some cultural knowledge is to listen to stories and read villain books.
There is a big elm tree in front of the storyteller's door, which is good for enjoying the shade, and in spring and summer, it is also a place to sell birds and play with birds. Birds: The locals are called finch, and there are many types of finch, including blue and red finch, lark, parrot, and tiger bular. Playing with birds and playing with birds. The bird it played with was a blue cardinal. At that time, there was a bird trickster surnamed Li, who was in his forties and was light-looking. Bird tricks are superb. When playing the bird, first throw the small velvet flower made of velvet silk into the air, then let go of the trained green and red bird, fly into the air to hold the small velvet flower, and then fly back to the finger of the bird charmer, and put the small velvet flower into the birdman's hand. At this time, the bird charmer takes out a kind of pigeon food (a bird food mixed with egg white and mung bean flour) prepared in advance, and feeds the bird once, which is considered a reward. But don't play too long each time, otherwise the birds will never go back. Once, the bird tricker, played more times, the bird was full, someone encouraged to come again, the bird trick to show their bird ability, then let the bird out, this time the bird was disobedient, did not fly to the bird tricker's hand, but flew to the big elm tree in front of the storyteller, watching the bird play the audience gathered under the big elm tree to watch the excitement. The bird charmer was in a hurry, and tried his best to summon the bird back, and a visitor came up with an idea: The bird is on the branch, and it does not fly, you can go and get a ladder and climb up from the back to catch it. The bird charmer listened to the suggestion, and borrowed a ladder to climb up to catch the bird, although he knew that as soon as he went up, before he could make a move, the bird flew west into the Dazhao courtyard. Blame the people who are playing tricks on the popularity of birds.
There are two storytelling houses in the south and one in the north in the east warehouse, both of which are located in the east of the warehouse. The family in the south is more popular, and listens to more books than in the north. The storyteller seats east and west. The storyteller's surname is Li, it is said that he is a storyteller from the capital, this person is tall and big, about 50 or so, and speaks a Beijing accent when telling stories. There is also Yuan Jinhe, who doesn't use books when telling stories, holds a paper fan in one hand, and gestures back and forth with the other, and all the stories are contained in his heart. Whenever it comes to a critical moment, he stops and says, "Let's listen to the next breakdown", and no longer goes on, but asks for money on a copper plate. It was a dime a day at noon. After collecting the money, he continued. The stories told at the time are all historical novels such as "Yongzheng Swordsman", "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", "Liu Gong's Case", "Peng Gong's Case", "Wu Song's Romance", "The Complete Biography of Yue" and so on. To the north is the open-air storytelling ground, under the south wall of the Lama Printing Office. Storytellers are: Zhao Xichun, Wang Fennian.
Pulling foreign films is also called looking at dioramas. It was one of the main cultural entertainment for children in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century. When culture and entertainment are single, you can learn a lot of historical and geographical knowledge by looking at diorama. Historical stories include the legend of the White Snake, Wu Song beating the tiger, Dou Erdun stealing the royal horse, and the geographical scenery includes: Hangzhou West Lake, Shanghai Bund, Beijing Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven construction, etc. That's why it's the best way to motivate children to come and watch.
The monkey is from Wuqiao, Hebei. It usually consists of two people. One person carries a wooden box and loads props, and the monkey squats on the wooden box. Another person carries a drum on his back and holds a rope to lead a sheep and dog, and after finding a good place in the open space in front of the lama's printing office, the sound of the gong will attract a crowd to watch, listen to the monkey artist's language songs full of Hebei flavor, and watch the humorous performance with the monkey as the protagonist. The first time I watched the monkey was one morning in the summer of 1963, I went to the Dazhao Zhang Ji villain bookstore to read the villain's book, just walked to the storytelling hall and heard a burst of gongs in front of me, and then saw many adults and children running north, in order to see the red fire, I also ran over, and looked, it turned out to be a monkey. After people gathered in a circle, under the guidance of the monkey artist, a monkey appeared on the stage, and the monkey at this time seemed very nervous and busy. He kept blinking a pair of sparkling round eyes, twisting his head, and looking around. At the same time, you have to look at the eyes of the master, and perform according to the content of the song sung by the master. When the master reads: "San'er, open the treasure chest and show our belongings." The monkey opened the wooden box containing the props according to the owner's wishes, and fiddled with the props in the box, such as black gauze hats, mustaches (beards), masks, python robes, jade belts, etc. The artist read: San'er, where is your hat as the county master, put it on"! The monkey immediately put the black gauze hat on his head that hung from the box. Then according to the master's requirements, put on a python robe, put on a jade belt, and began to salute the crowd of onlookers. The next show to be performed is "Monkey Marrying a Daughter-in-law". The master said, "San'er, your daughter-in-law is in the crowd, you go and find her." Seeing this monkey, he immediately walked towards the crowd, and then the master said: "San'er, so careless and untidy, quickly put on the hat of the bridegroom who marries his daughter-in-law." I saw the monkey put on his hat and dressed neatly, and walked back and forth in the crowd, looking for the person he liked. Whenever the monkey goes, people everywhere can't help but retreat, and when the monkey is impatient, they will pull a girl in it. The shouts and cries of children and women can be heard. At this time, the monkey artist gave an order, "San'er, do you marry a daughter-in-law like this?" Often, the monkey takes off its hat and throws it into the sky. And the owner also took the whip and whipped the monkey a few times at this time, and it ran straight up and down in pain, squeaking. At this time, the crowd of onlookers tends to sympathize with the monkeys. The monkey artist took the opportunity to say: "This monkey has not eaten water and rice since early in the morning, and it will be disobedient when it is hungry. So, a monkey entertainer was ordered to take a copper gong plate for a one-time charge. After that, still give the monkey a few sour red, or a handful of wild fruits such as cotton fruit. He also said, "Beating is pain, scolding is love, don't blame you for beating and scolding, delicious things come later." Then the monkey put on a mask at the behest of his owner, walked around the circle, and made a few dexterous and funny movements, which made the audience laugh constantly.
Dazhao Noodle Restaurant is the only distinctive canteen in Hohhot, which was established in 1958 during the "Great Leap Forward" era. It belongs to the cooperative head office of Hohhot Catering Service Company. Its fried pork dumplings are unique. Because of the smell and fragrance, it is often full of guests. In the mid-nineties of the twentieth century, the Dazhao block was renovated, and all the shops were demolished, leaving only the empty name of Dazhao Dongcang.
About author:Cao Jiancheng, a member of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Writers Association and vice president of the Tumut Historical Research Association, was born in 1953 at No. 30, Qiaotou Street, Yuquan District, Hohhot. Influenced by his father, he loved painting, music, ancient architecture, and literature since childhood. Engaged in transportation management. His published works include: "Streets and Alleys of the Old City of Hohhot City in the 70s of the 20th Century", "Old Streets and Alleys of the New City", and "Old Streets and Alleys of the Naturalized City". It has been published by Banyuetan Magazine's "Reading", the Ministry of Communications' Railway's "Logistics Magazine", the Ancient Legend Magazine "Speed Reading", and the Northern New Newspaper, including: "The Predecessor of Siu Mai in the Present World", "Naturalized City Administration", "Naturalized City Mansion", "Three Bays, Four Beaches, One Material", "Hohhot's Calling Temple" and so on. The deeds have been broadcast and published many times: Chinanews.com, China News Service, Inner Mongolia News Network, Sina.com, Inner Mongolia TV "News Every Day" City, Inner Mongolia Daily, Northern News, Inner Mongolia Business Daily, Hohhot City TV Station, Hohhot City Daily, and Hohhot Evening News.