Hutongs (胡同) - 16

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A hutong is an old city alley or lane, and the hutongs of Beijing are one

of its most distinctive features. The capital city is home to thousands of

hutongs, many of which were built in the area surrounding the Forbidden

City during the Yuan (1279 - 1368), Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 -

1911) dynasties. During China’s dynastic heyday, the emperors planned

the city and arranged the residential areas according to the etiquette

systems of the Zhou Dynasty (1027 - 256 BC). At the center of the

metropolis was the Forbidden City, surrounded in concentric circles by

the Inner City and Outer City. Citizens of higher social status were

permitted to live closer to the center of the circles. The aristocratic

hutongs of those days were located just to the east and west of the

imperial palace. The lanes were orderly, lined by spacious homes and

walled gardens. Further from the palace and to its north and south were

the commoners’ hutongs, where merchants, artisans and laborers lived

and worked. The residences lining the hutongs, whether grand or

humble, were generally siheyuan, complexes formed by four buildings

surrounding a courtyard. The large siheyuan of high-ranking officials and

wealthy merchants often featured beautifully carved and painted roof

beams and pillars and carefully landscaped gardens. Commoners’

siheyuan were far smaller in scale and simpler in design and decoration.

The hutongs are, in fact, passageways formed by many siheyuan of

varying sizes, all arranged closely together. Nearly all siheyuan had their

main buildings and gates facing south for better lighting; so that the

majority of hutongs run from east to west. Between the main hutongs,

many tiny lanes ran north and south for convenient passage.