Mar 06 2008
10 Canzheng Hutong
My first home - left picture: east wing to my right and the 2nd door 二门 (festooned) to my left in the back. The center picture: main hall; and the picture on the right shows the west wing to my left and the wall between the front courtyard and the main courtyard.
10 Canzheng Hutong in Xidan is a standard siheyuan (liangjin 两进). After great grandfather passed away in January 1942, great grandma sold the villa for 400,000 and rent Canzheng Hutong. When the landlord wanted to sell in 1950, great grandma decided to buy. By that time, Yeye’s money was pretty much gone up in smoke literally and figuratively. His petty salary could hardly support himself. So great grandma with the help from Lucy and Xiaomin (Don’s grandma) put up the cash for the house – sorry no mortgage then. In light of Yeye’s largess, great grandma titled the Canzheng house to her grandchildren Jiujiu/Mom/Xiaoyi, but stipulated that should Yeye one day needed money for meals, then the house can be sold.
By the beginning of 1964, Yeye was very short on cash, so he sold the southern wing to a pastor at Nantang for 40,000 or 60,000 yuan. In April 1966, Yeye sold off east/wing wings for another 40,000 yuan. Couple of months later the Cultural Revolution began and the money got frozen in the bank for nearly a year or so. During that time, Popo supported Yeye and Nainai, gave them 5 yuan from her retirement check monthly and Auntie Fu forked over 10 yuan monthly too.
This is a two courtyards siheyuan 两进四合院 similar to ours on Canzheng Hutong. The only difference was that the main gate was on the southwesters corner. After Yeye sold the southern wing to the pastor in 1964, the festoon door was sealed and opened a new entrance between the main hall and the west wing.
The idiom 大门不出，二门不进 is stemming from two courtyards siheyuan: 大门 damen big door here refers to the main gate, and 二门 ermen the second door refers to the inner entry that often festooned, in the shape of circle, pear or calabash.
It was confiscated in 1967, forcing Yeye, Nainai and I to move in with Jiujiu who’s living in Lucy’s siheyuan on Qianbaihu 前百户Hutong with Popo. It was returned to Yeye in 1980. Jiujiu moved in for the first time in 1986, now living there with his son Xiao Peng and his family. They have installed a full bathroom. Both west/east wings have built additional rooms to extend their home after the Tangshan earthquake, thus reduced the once spacious courtyard into narrow alley. The developers or governments had offered Jiujiu two apartments for the house, but he refused: too far. “All my life, I’ve never left the Inner Second nei er 内二 area in Beijing.” Guess he’s not about to move any time soon.