The word "Shi Li" is reminiscent of the idiom "Corporal Li Xian", which is a very elegant name. In fact, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this was a market selling donkeys and mules, called "Donkey City Hutong". On the map of the imperial capital of the Qing Dynasty, it was marked as "Shilu Hutong". Shuntian Fuzhi in Qing Dynasty said: "Shilu Hutong is also called mule market." Thus, mule trade is second only to donkeys.
It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty in Xuan Tong that the livestock market here was abolished, and people skillfully renamed it "Li Hutong" according to the homonym.
More than a hundred years ago, wooden stakes were erected in hutongs, with donkeys and mules tied to them. The seller is waiting, and the buyer is wandering among the livestock to choose. Someone opened the donkey's mouth and looked at it sideways. Interestingly, the bargaining method is completely different. When trading, the two sides "play charades" in sleeves or under skirts, patiently "talk" with their fingers and negotiate prices.
There are nails on the roadside. By the fire where the iron palm was beaten, the fireman pulled the bellows hard, and the flame went up and down. As the blacksmith's hammer rose and fell, there was a tinkling sound. Under the wall, there are veterinarians who set up stalls to treat animals, and vendors who rush back and forth to sell leather products ... Today's Lishi Hutong is a deep hutong. There is a rich shade in the depths of the hutong, with gray walls and roof tiles on both sides. There are many mansions here, and the TV series "Mansion Gate" was shot in the mansion of Wuchang magistrate in Qing Dynasty on 129 North Road.
If you wander from one end of the hutong to the other and look at it while walking, the most impressive thing is that there are more than a dozen large brick carvings in the Qing Dynasty on the north wall in the middle part of the hutong. It is said that such a beautiful brick carving can't even be found in the Forbidden City! This is a major feature of Lishi Hutong.
In the streets and alleys of the ancient capital, Lishi Hutong also has a prominent feature, that is, the "Lishi Hutong Culture Exhibition" that has been on display for many years-
On the wall facing the street of Lee Hotel in the east of the alley, there is a long row of color display boards with 30 * * * pictures, each of which is a rectangle with a height of 1 meter. Passers-by often stop to watch.
The image of "Cultural Exhibition" vividly reveals the historical changes of hedgerows in the past hundreds of years.
"Cultural Exhibition" has brought people an all-powerful and famous Jie Jun who once lived here: "Liu Yong, the prime minister in Qianlong period, Jingxin, a university student in Guangxu period, the father of pediatrics in China, Bi Bide, the founder of modern ophthalmology in China, and a photographer. ...
The "Cultural Exhibition" also shows readers a variety of cultural activities in Hutong: self-created song competitions, chorus activities, organizing residents to learn English, setting up an orchestra to play folk music, and introducing Hutong culture to foreign friends. ...