Tie a horse to tell fortune.

Hutong is unique to Beijing. The traditional Chinese character of Hutong is "Hu Meng". Why is it called Hutong? Opinions vary. Most scholars think it is Mongolian, which means good.

I heard a comrade in Hohhot say that Hutong is a Mongolian "breakthrough hole", which refers to a long and narrow terrain with high sides and low middle. Wuchuan County, opposite Hohhot, has the place name Wulanhu Cave. This is Mongolian, probably for sure. Then this is only after the Yuan Dynasty. Before the Yuan Dynasty, there was no capital or Lin 'an.

There are no hutongs in books such as Meng Liang Road and Huameng Road in Tokyo. An expert who loves to talk nonsense thinks that this is Chinese, and there are similar pronunciations in ancient books. He quoted the classics and made textual research. I think it's a little far-fetched.

Beijing is a square city with streets in the east, west, north and south. There are only a few diagonal streets in Beijing, such as Dai Yan diagonal street, Li Tie diagonal street and Yangmeizhu diagonal street. Beijingers have a strong sense of direction. If you ask a Beijinger for directions, he will tell you whether to go south or north. The rickshaw puller used to shout "Go east!" When they reached the corner. . When the old couple were sleeping, the old lady thought the old man was squeezing her and said, "Go south!" " "

It is hutong that connects these streets, east and west, north and south. Hutong cut the big tofu in Beijing into many small pieces. Beijing people live in these small pieces of tofu. How many hutongs are there in Beijing? "The famous hutong is 3,600, and the unknown hutong cow."

Hutong has big hutongs, such as Dongzongbu Hutong; There are very small ones, such as Erduoyan Hutong. Generally speaking, hutong refers to alley, "alley, hutong"!

The names of hutongs come from different sources. Some industries are relatively concentrated, such as handkerchief alley, which is probably the place where handkerchiefs were monopolized at the beginning;

Hair Hutong is probably the place where wigs are sold.

Some are royal storage places, such as Xijinsi Hutong (for storing firewood needed by the palace) and Piku Hutong (for storing furs). Some once lived here with a famous person, such as the boundless adult hutong, and this adult also wondered how to call it such a name;

Shi Laoniang Hutong, where an old lady, a midwife, lives, must be very good at delivering babies. It is said that the real name of Daya Bao Hutong is Big Dumb Hutong, because there used to be a mute here. Some are Xiao-shaped, such as Gao Yibo Hutong, formerly known as Dog Tail Hutong;

Sheep Yibin Hutong was originally named Yangwei Hutong. Some hutongs don't know what they want, such as Shamao Hutong in Dali. Some hutongs are not called hutongs, but they are called elegant names, such as "Deep Flowers" where Qi Baishi once lived. Actually, there are no flowers here. As soon as you enter the alley, it is the public toilet!

Some houses in hutong used to be special. Some people have cymbals nailed to their doors, and there are nails and horses in front of them to describe the prosperity of the past. However, with the wind and rain erosion of the years, the door cymbals are no longer paired, and the horse-tied piles and horse-mounted stones have become round, and the angular lines are blurred. Now most hutongs have become "mean alleys".

The alley is very quiet. Occasionally, the sound of sharpening knives and scissors "shakes the boudoir" (more than a dozen pieces of iron are strung together and shaking), the sound of a blind fortune teller playing piccolo, and the old cry of selling hard noodles-"Hard noodles-A Bo!" . "The mountains are as quiet as ancient times, and the days are as long as small years", and time seems to have stagnated here.

Hutong residents are conservative. They experienced the change of dynasties, and "the flag of the king changed for the head of the city." Whoever is in power will follow, as Wang Zhanggui in Teahouse said, "I have been a docile subject all my life". They are obedient and obedient.

The old Beijingers said, "The poor endure, while the rich endure and can't sleep." . "Sleepless squinting" is really the essence of Beijingers' philosophy of life. Never worry, never worry, and "endure" everything.

Hutong residents have low requirements for material life. Steaming a steamed bun, boiling a pot of shrimp-skin cabbage, a dish of stinky tofu and a big pickled radish is enough.

I know an old Beijinger who has eaten Zhajiang Noodles and Zhajiang Noodles every night for decades. Oh, old Beijingers in Hutong, will you live like this forever?