Chapter 3406 3408【Eight Hutongs】
On this day, Xiang Nan asked Xiaodouzi to practice Qigong on his own, and he changed his appearance and used Qinggong to fly out of the Forbidden City and arrived at Huamanlou in Bada Hutong.
Bada Hutong is located in the area north of Zhushikou West Street and south of Tieshu Xiejie. From west to east they are: Baishun Hutong, Yanzhi Hutong, Hanjia Hutong, Shanxi Lane, Shitou Hutong, Widow Wang Xiejie, Zhujia Hutong, and Li Shamao Hutong.
When it is said to be the Eight Great Alleys, it actually refers not just to these eight streets, but to the Qianmen Dashilar area in general. In this area, there are hundreds of prostitutes and brothels, large and small, which is the filthy place where people are looking for flowers and asking for help.
Since the Qing Dynasty, there has been a saying in the capital city, "The eight major alleys have been named since ancient times, and they are the stone city of Shanxi Baishun. There are a lot of singing on the bank of Hanjiatan, and the lights are bright on Wangguang Xie Street. There are cars in front of Wanfo Temple, and two roads outside the camp. Diaoqiu Haoqi knows this How many, clusters of rouge go up the slope."
But in fact, in the earliest times, the Bada Hutongs were not named after prostitutes.
Because of the rampant prohibition in the Qing Dynasty, it was clearly stipulated during the Kangxi period that "gang people would open kilns to lure women and children, and the leaders would be executed according to the law of bachelors, and they would be enslaved by armored slaves in ancient pagodas in Faning and other places."
After Jiaqing ascended the throne, the punishment became more severe. "For those who seize prostitution or open soft sheds inside and outside the capital, and who commit the crime for a long time, in addition to the regular punishment of the offender, the person who rents the house to the owner will be punished with eighty sticks for the first offense and one month's punishment..." "
However, although the court banned rampant tricks, the desire of those wealthy people would not disappear, so it was transferred to men.
Since the Ming Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrat class has been looking for the best to support their families. During the Qianlong period, the four major Hui troupes came to Beijing, and the disciples of the Hui troupes were boys. The most beautiful ones among them were usually male dandies, who happened to catch the fancy of those rich people.
Therefore, Bada Hutong first became famous for its male actors, who were also called Xianggong, and the building where it was located was called "Xianggong Hall".
In the movie "Mei Lanfang", there is a plot where Mei Lanfang is taken by her cousin Zhu Huifang to accompany the distinguished guest Mr. Lu. You can see that after Zhu Huifang arrived at the dinner, she sat comfortably in the arms of Mr. Lu.
In "A Dream of Red Mansions", written in the Qing Dynasty, there are also scenes where Jia Baoyu and Qi Guan Jiang Yuhan exchange sweat towels, and the idiot king Xue Pan teases Liu Xianglian.
However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the government's policy was weak and the ban on rampant activities gradually became ineffective. During the Guangxu period, prostitutes appeared in the Bada Hutong, and then they quickly became popular and gradually surpassed the Xianggong Hall.
Nowadays, although the national situation is deteriorating and the people are in dire straits, business here is getting better. Because the rich get richer and the people get poorer, they have no choice but to send their wives and daughters into the pit of fire, which naturally makes business in these places prosper.
…
The restaurants in the Bada Hutong are also divided into categories, with a total of four levels.
One is Qingyin Xiaoban. The girls inside play chess, calligraphy and painting, recite poems and write poems, talk sweetly, and have a lot of knowledge. Most of the people who come in and out are dignitaries, celebrities and gentry;
One is the tea room. The girls inside are also literate and can play the piano and sing. Moreover, the decoration of the tea room is also very elegant, no worse than that of a wealthy family. Most of the people who come and go are wealthy people.
One is the lower part. Most of the girls there have little knowledge, no talent, and are older. Moreover, the decoration of the lower part is much shabby compared to the first two places, and most of the people coming and going are businessmen;
The last type is the kiln, the house is extremely simple, usually only a simple table and a kang. The quality of girls is naturally the lowest. Most of the people who come and go are porters, coolies, cart drivers and the like.
And Huamanlou is a small Qingyin class. Xiang Nan wanted to find the Chrysanthemum Immortal among them.
In the film, Duan Xiaolou and Juxian met in 1937. Although it is now 1924, thirteen years early, Xiang Nan knows that in the old society, people are treated as human beings, and the youngest girl in the Bada Hutong is only ten years old.
Xiang Nan was naturally worried that Juxian would fall into the fire pit early, so he rushed over to look for her.
At such a young age, he would naturally not be able to enter through the main entrance when he went to Huamanlou, and people would not entertain him.
As soon as Xiang Nan saw it, he jumped up and came closer. He used the phantom demon to easily hypnotize him, and then asked, "Do you have a girl named Juxian in your flower house?"
“No.” The big teapot shook his head. Xiang Nan did not give up after hearing this, and walked around the house again. Although he saw many eye-catching scenes, he did not see the shadow of Juxian.
When Xiang Nan saw this, he no longer forced him to stay. He left Huamanlou and returned to the Forbidden City.
…
“Brother, where have you been? Why do you smell like rouge?” When he returned to the Forbidden City, Xiaodouzi frowned and asked as soon as he smelled the scent of Xiang Nan.
He grew up in a brothel and was most familiar with this smell.
"Well, I have a childhood sweetheart who was sold by her parents because her family was poor. I have always been thinking about her, so I went to Bada Hutong to look for her to see if I could save her from the fire pit." Xiang Nan opened his mouth to lie. Just came, "But I couldn't find it after looking around."
“So that’s it, I thought senior brother you…” Xiaodouzi suddenly realized, and then said embarrassedly.
"What are you thinking about? How old am I?" Xiang Nan said with a smile, "Besides, if I do that, how can I be worthy of my brothers?"
When Xiaodouzi heard this, he was immediately moved.
"Okay, don't say this, junior brother, starting from today, I will teach you calligraphy." Xiang Nan said.
“Senior brother, do you still know how to read?” Xiaodouzi said in surprise.
During the Republic of China, the literacy rate of the people was less than 10%, and the vast majority of the people could not even write their own names.
"That's natural." Xiang Nan smiled and said, "Are there any illiterate gods since ancient times?"
“No.” Xiaodouzi shook his head, still very interested in learning.
Xiang Nan casually used a branch to write the words "Xiaodouzi" on the ground, "Xiaodouzi, this is your name."
“This is my name, it turns out to be these three characters.” Xiaodouzi looked at the three characters on the ground and said in surprise. He has been called Xiaodouzi since he was a child, but this is the first time he saw the word "Xiaodouzi". It turns out that it is written like this.
“But Xiaodouzi is just a nickname, and a person can’t live without a big name.” Xiang Nan said again, “Let’s do this, Xiaodouzi, I’ll give you a big name, okay?”
“Okay.” Xiaodouzi said immediately.
"You will be called 'Cheng Dieyi' from now on. The flowers are bright, the willows are dark, the orioles are singing, and the butterflies are dancing and the bees are flying, and the fragrance is all over your clothes. Okay?" Xiang Nan then said.
“Okay, it sounds good, it sounds really good.” When Xiaodouzi heard it, he felt that this name was excellent. He couldn’t help but smiled and agreed, “My name will be Cheng Dieyi from now on.”
"Well, senior brother, I also gave myself a big name. My name is Duan Xiaolou. The small building listens to the spring rain all night, and sells apricot flowers in the deep alleys in the morning." Xiang Nan said again.
“Duan Xiaolou sounds nice too.” Cheng Dieyi clapped his hands and said with a smile, “Your name is Duan Xiaolou, and my name is Cheng Dieyi. We will all have names in the future.”
Xiang Nan nodded.
(End of this chapter)