Zhang Qian fortune-telling _ Zhang Qian fortune-telling novels

"Jinjiang Memory" 36: Chengdu "Shoujie" East Street

Before the commercial market and Chunxi Road were built, Chengdu East Street was once known as "the first street in Chengdu", and its prosperity process can be imagined.

The rise of East Street originated in the Tang Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, although Chengdu was a prosperous city in Sui Dynasty, it was a suburb outside the East Wall. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, the population of Chengdu gradually increased and migrated from the original city wall. After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty prospered in Shu, Xuanzong, who admired Buddhism, built a large-scale Daci Temple in the east of the city, which made Wei Gao repair and the eastern suburbs gradually prosper. After Wei Gao dug Yuxi, he passed through Daci Temple, and Hejiang Pavilion was built outside the intersection of the two rivers, and Bordet Ji and Baoying temples were built nearby. In addition, the new Heather, the southern gate of Chengdu, which was opened during Zhenyuan period, made the southeast of Chengdu prosperous. As the main road extending eastward from the old city, East Street naturally keeps pace with the times. When Gao Pian was appointed as our special envoy to give up, he once again expanded the construction of the city wall. The land surrounded by the Eastern Circle was particularly wide, and the prosperity of the East Street reached a new level. Its history of building a new city was supported by Zi Tongzhi Tang Dynasty.

As early as the Five Dynasties, the south of Daci Temple was a market place in Dongjie, and it became a resort for merchants after the Five Dynasties. Speaking of the night market in Dongjie, many old customs have been used for many years, and the lively scenes have been passed down from generation to generation with little interruption. Every evening, department stores gather on the steps to set up stalls. Tourists shoulder to shoulder, like a fair. According to the old rules, the city guards are vendors selling food in Zouma Street, such as rice noodles, Dandan Noodles, Guo kui, sweet water noodles, sugar, oil, fruits and candied haws. But when you visit the night market, you can see all kinds of snacks among Chengdu people, and the smell of your nose and mouth makes your mouth water. Go west along this road to Taotai yamen, where there are Jianghu artists and fortune tellers. Such as "Zhang" and "Li Shenpo" gathered in this section, the iron mouth was splashed, and the cause and effect were different. There are also walk-ons, jugglers and plasterers. It doesn't matter whether you buy it or not. It's just that those "unique skills" such as broken stones on the chest, broken sticks on the back and cracked blue bricks on the head are dazzling. Further down, to the Zhifu yamen, most restaurants are engaged in delicacies, and their grades and styles are naturally different from those of street stalls. Followed by Yanshikou, this street is full of Yang Guang grocers with late business hours, and there are also some vendors selling used books. Near Yanshikou, it has become the world of small-scale industrial products. All kinds of small commodities in the forest are dazzling, and the cries of selling are one after another. The lively scene here lasted from the beginning of the Hua Deng to midnight, and Dongjie has become a daily amusement resort for the people. More people don't come here to buy things, but take this opportunity to play. Therefore, in the old society, there was a saying called "Drive East Street".

Mr. Li, a famous writer, wrote in his "Dead Water": "All the big silk shops, big Malaysian shops, big jewelry shops, big leather goods shops, all the store names, and water customers selling Su Guang groceries are all in East Street." This passage is a description of the prosperity of East Street after the Qing Dynasty. All-in-one top-class interior painted ceiling, bright facade, each signboard has its own emphasis. It is painted with gold on a black background, which highlights the luxury. Let's talk about East Street first, starting from the East Gate in the east and reaching the south exit of Dajin Street in the west. Guangxu changed to the south of Nanpumi Street five years later. There is a memorial arch on the street corner, and the banner "both beautiful and worshipful" comes from Zuo Si's Shu Du Fu. To the north of the street is the Chenghuang Temple, where many restaurants and department stores gather. It is said that someone once sold Shiquan Dabu soup in the temple, and the business was once booming. The section that goes down to Shamao South Street is Zhongdong Street, formerly the middle section of Xia Dong Street. In the Ming Dynasty, the Tax Division Tea Bureau was located in the north of the street, and there was a Jingxian Hall in the west. Further down is Shangzhong East Street, formerly known as the upper section of Xiadong Street. There is Liu's Temple in the north of the street, Xiang's Temple in the west, next to the Qing court, also known as the Qing internal affairs office, and the Ming Dynasty specializes in supervising local military affairs. Next is Chengshou East Street. Before the Qing Dynasty, this street was called the east section of Zhongdong Street, and its west entrance was south of Chunxi Road. The northern end of the street is the seat of Dusi yamen in Ming Dynasty, which was also called Dongmen Street at that time. In the Qing dynasty, the former headquarters was changed to the official residence of the guerrilla department of Chengwei, which was responsible for guarding the provincial capital, so the name of the street was changed to Chengweidong Street. Yes, it is Xizhong East Street, formerly known as the west section of Zhongdong Street. In the Ming Dynasty, the General History Office and the yamen of the provincial judges were all in the north of the street. After the change of dynasty, the Qing judge's office was still located in the former site of the Ming Dynasty. The last section to Yanshikou is Dong Xi Street. On the east side of the street, there is a fish market where fish are bought and sold. This street is also the gathering area of leather goods merchants in old Chengdu, and "Ma Yulong" near the intersection of Qingshiqiao in the south of the street is the earliest big department store in Chengdu. The whole East Street is divided into six sections, with a total length of about1520m.

As Mr. Li said in his article, this East Street, known as the "First Street", has become the refining stone of Chengdu's commercial culture with its rich historical background. After the history of China entered the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the commercial atmosphere on East Street became stronger and stronger. The first is the "satin merchant". There are hundreds of merchants specializing in silk and satin trade on various street sections of more than a thousand meters. Among them, "Sense of German Harmony", "Foreigner Harmony" and "Wu Yufeng Dollar" are time-honored brands of silk and satin trade. There are also dozens of computer rooms engaged in silk weaving, such as the "wool loop" located in Shixiang Temple in Shangzhong East Street and the "Luo Rongxing" located in Chengshou Street, whose silk and satin production capacity was the highest in Chengdu and even Sichuan at that time. In addition, there are nearly 100 firms specializing in the production of lake crepe, such as Cai Xingshenglong of Xia Dong Street, Dechang Store of Zhang Qian Taiyong of Upper Middle East Street, and Wang Yitailong of Upper East Street. In addition, such as Peng Kaiyuan in Zhongdong Street and Zhong Yongxing in Xidong Street, there were dozens of merchants engaged in cloth and foreign groceries, but at that time, slightly famous silk and cloth merchants gathered in Dongjie Street to open stores. Therefore, Dongjie became a street in Chengdu at that time.

In addition to the prosperity of the street industry in Dongjie, the famous "Jade Merchants" in Chengdu at that time also gathered in this street, especially in Chengshou Street. For example, there are always a dozen or twenty "Zhang Jiyigong", "Guo Yuanmaoxing" and "Chen Fuyuan Sheng" who handle jade groceries. There are also more than 20 merchants operating the railing industry, such as "Zhang Tongxing Chang" and "He Yongyuan Chang", stationed in various sections of East Street. The "Lishihui" bank in Xizhong East Street and the "Hao Jian shun ming" cashier in Yunxiangdian in Xidong Street were powerful private banks at that time. The entry of Huayang Pharmacy is a sign that Chengdu medicinal materials have helped to penetrate into Dongjie. There are about fifteen "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei halls" in Zhongdong Street, "Yang Wan Yuan Heng" in Shangzhong Street and "Chang Heng Xin" in Xiadong Street. The "White Paper Gang" came, and more than ten paper shops such as "Zhang Yi Chang Heng" opened their doors to accept customers. The "shop gang" has also come, and more than 30 inns and shops, large and small, such as "Zou Dechang Store", are distributed in various blocks. Yang Yunlong and Zhong Sixingtong with gangs, Mrs. Chen Guangfeng with tea gangs, Star City with gangs, Zhang, Xia Bu gangs with gold gangs, alcohol and tobacco gangs, etc. A company named "Zhong Ming Sheng Yuan" opened a shop in a section of Xizhong East Street, selling charcoal and Carboniferous. The "Knife and Scissors Gang" is not far behind. Its "Liaoguangdong" in Chengshou Street and its new number are both outstanding in the knife and scissors industry in old Chengdu.

During the Republic of China, Yang Sen was in charge of Sichuan and carried out the new road construction policy. First, the East Street will be widened, and the street surface of the original red sandstone slab will be changed into a gravel road. Then trim the cornices along the street to achieve a neat and beautiful effect. This move caused resistance from merchants along the street. At that time, the famous "five old men and seven sages" in Chengdu made a special trip to visit Yang Sen, who refused. Yang Sen also dispatched military police to supervise the construction. Later, the commercial field and Chunxi Road were built one after another, and this once the first commercial street gradually faded away, but it has continued its glory for hundreds of years since the Tang Dynasty and still remains in the historical picture of old Chengdu.

(The second part "East Street of Financial Center")