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Stories of Hutongs


Stories behind Hutongs Hutong stories
Beijing's hutongs are more than just architecture. They are the people who live there. They are a museum of Beijing's folk custom and they are a witness to the city's history. Many hutongs have a story behind them. Near the Forbidden City in the heart of old Beijing is a hutong called "the Weaving Girl" named after the daughter of a god who descended to the human world with her sisters to swim in a river and then proceeded to fall in love with a cowherd. Her enraged father, the Celestial Emperor, took the girl back and separated the couple with the Milky Way.
On the opposite side of the Forbidden City, there used to be a Cowherd Bridge. Flanked by the cowherd and the weaving girl, the suggestion was that the feudal emperors living in the Forbidden City were the sons of Heaven.

Another example is a bell tower in the north part of Beijing. The bell in it served as a watch for the city. It told people when curfew was, or when officials should go to court. The bell was made of iron in the Ming dynasty about 600 years ago. It didn't sound loud enough to reach the whole city, so the emperor ordered the master who was famous for making bells to make a new bronze bell. The master tried his best, but failed. None of the bells he made was good enough. However, the deadline was approaching. He had to make a last attempt. The master's daughter was worried. She knew that if her father couldn't finish the bell on time, the whole family would be killed. Having no other alternatives, she threw herself into the melting bronze. A nice looking, good quality bell was made. Its sound reached the whole city.

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