Why is Hutong called Hutong?

Hutong is a major feature of Beijing. When Beijing becomes more and more modern, people are worried: Will Hutong disappear? Probably because of this, someone picked up a seemingly old topic: How did Hutong become a street name? How was this word coined?

First, "Hutong" was not originally from China.

The word Hutong was first seen in Yuan Zaju. In Guan Hanqing's "Single Knife Meeting", there is a saying of "bloody alley". In the Yuan drama Salmon Island, Zhang Sheng Boiled the Sea, Zhang Yu asked Xiang Mei, "Where do you live?" Xiang Mei said, "My family lives in Zhuantar Hutong." Zhuanta Hutong is in Xisi South Street, and the place name has not changed. It is clearly stated in Yuan Xiong Meng Xiang's Analysis of Golden Branches: "The word Hutong." Where is the dialect? This belongs to the Yuan Dynasty. Amin Shen Bang further said in Wan Bu Zaji: The primitive language of Hutong people. Since it is a metalanguage, it cannot be Chinese. In the Yuan Dynasty, people were divided into four classes: Mongolians, Semu people, Han people and southerners. The so-called Han people refer to the Han people, Jurchen people, Khitans and Koreans in the north. These four people are not of the same nationality and do not speak the same language. Then "Yuan dialect" is definitely not "Nan dialect". As for semu people, it includes more ethnic groups. Therefore, "Yuan people's language" can only be Mongolian.

Second, hutongs are closely related to wells.

Some scholars believe that Hutong was transformed from a "breakthrough point"-a well. The author agrees with this view. Because from the reality of metropolis, the relationship between hutong and well is closer.

Let's talk about the formation of hutong. Most of the Yuan Dynasty was built from a wilderness. Its central axis is drawn by water, and most palaces are built by the sea. Then other streets, squares and residential areas must take the location of the well into account when designing and planning. Either dig a well before building a house, or set the location of the well in advance before planning the layout of the courtyard. In either case, it is "a well becomes a lane." Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were wells in every hutong, which is beyond doubt.

Look at the name of the hutong. The causes of the name of Beijing Hutong are nothing more than the following: named after temples, organs and government agencies, named after construction sites and workshops, named after houses and people, named after markets, and so on. However, the largest number is named after wells, and there are only ten "Jinger Hutong"; Plus big wells, small wells, east, west, north, south, front and back wells, dry wells, wet wells, sweet wells and bitter wells ... no less than forty or fifty. Thus, hutong and well are closely related.

Third, the strange name was originally transliterated.

The names of some hutongs in Beijing are strange because they cannot be explained in Chinese. But if the names of these hutongs are all in Mongolian, it will be easy to explain. To give a few examples: dung beetles Hutong, how ugly the name is! Why did the residents here have such names in the first place? In fact, the name translated into Mongolian is "Xiangjing"! There is a "Mohe Hutong" in North Korea, which means "smelly well" in Mongolian. It may be polluted. In addition, such as Gushao Hutong (or write hoop Hutong) and Kujing; Shuangjing Juer Hutong or Juer Hutong; Nianer Hutong is still Nianer Hutong, with fine wells; Xiaojing 82 Hutong; Maliang Hutong or Malang Hutong, a well for livestock to drink water. ...

There are also many "Mao Hutong" in Beijing. "Mao Hutong" means bad well and broken well in Mongolian, and the surname is added in front of it, indicating that this bad well belongs to private property. This is not far-fetched. There used to be a Baihui Hutong next to Baimao Hutong, which shows that it used to be the residence of Muslims with Bai surname. There used to be a "Jia Zhu Hutong" near "Zhu Mao Hutong", which shows that Zhu's family really lived here. Nearby Yang Maohu is Yangmeizhu in Xie Jie.

It's not surprising that some pronunciations have been mispronounced for a long time: Is there less mispronounced place names in China? However, it is true that some Mongolian place names are difficult to verify.

Hutong should undoubtedly be the transliteration of Jing. However, it must be emphasized that both Hutong and Jing had the meaning of "city" in the Yuan Dynasty, and Shaluo City can also be called Shaluo Hutong, which means Coral City. In ancient China, there was a word called "marketplace" and "a well makes a city". In the Yuan Dynasty, hutong and well also had the meaning of "street". The bell tower of Analysis of Tianjin Record said: "There are 80-point four wells in the building, and the street covering the east, west, north and south is the widest." The meaning is clear, "well" equals street.