Jinhua Ancient Streets and Alleys: Protecting Cultural Inheritance
发布日期:2021-01-19 浏览次数:

On January 7, the first sale of commercial and residential land of the Jinhua Fenghuang project attracted a variety of investors and residents, but what was mostly left unnoticed is that on the north to Huancheng West Road and next to Hongyuan, the old alley Hongyun (鸿运 lit. good luck) is about to disappear.

The vicissitude of Hongyun Street is a miniature of Jinhua’s urban development. In recent years, following the advancement and realization of organic renewal projects, construction of road and transportation network, a series of ancient streets and alleys have been disappearing from the scene of history.

In order to promote the cultural inheritance protection of such ancient locations, the Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs and the Municipal Toponymy Association has carried research projects on local old streets and alleys since 2020. The research has collected pictures and historical information of over 600 representative old streets and alleys. The results has been publicly released in Jinhua’s Ancient Streets and Alleys.

“Since the first toponymic survey performed during the 1980s, of Jinhua’s over 600 ancient streets and alleys, more than 200 have already disappeared, simply becoming a nostalgic memory of this city,” president of Municipal Toponymy Association Wang Xiaoming said.

The editors of the work are Shen Xinyu and Jiang Jinzhi, local toponymic experts.

An Outlook on Humanities from Ancient Alleys

“More than 2000 years ago our ancestors settled on the banks of the Wujiang River. The names of places and streets were chosen accordingly to the growth and the history of the city,” Wang Xiaoming said. Although many old streets and alleys have disappeared, behind their names, stories and memories about Jinhua and the city life are still passed down.

Speaking of the protection of disappearing names of places and ancient streets, a place worth mentioning is Cufangling, located in the middle section of Jiefang East Road. Cufangling was originally named Sufangling since Su Che’s (苏辙 1039-1112) son, Su Chi, and his descendants settled in Jinhua working as officials. Their presence in Jinhua was celebrated by the construction of the monumental Jingsufang, finally named Sufangling. The name had changed from Su to Cu because of the similar pronunciation in the local dialect.

Travel writer and geographer of the Ming dynasty, Xu Xiake (1587-1641), passed by Sufangling during his visit in Jinhua and annotated the local life and social customs in his travel diary. Moxiang, an ancient street name once part of Sufangling, had vanished too, but it was adopted to name a modern residential area later settled in the vicinity, Moxiang Garden.

Outlooking Lively Marketplaces from Ancient Lanes

Relevant data show that the old city and lanes of north-of-the-river Jinhua were basically defined around 1949, when Jinhua covered an area of about 2.57 square kilometers, and its built-up area was approximately 1.86 square kilometers. The city counted hundreds of streets (街), lanes (坊), blind alleys (里), and alleys (巷), respecting the historical pattern according which a “street” goes from north to south, a “road” goes from east to west, a lane crosses a hill, and alleys are either open passages or dead ends.

Markets were spread at the cardinal points of the city, causing the streets on which they were located be named accordingly: Dongshi Street (East market), Xishi Street (West market), Nanshi Street (South market), and Zhongshi Street (Central market). Xishi Street is still Jinhua’s liveliest commercial area, and Dongshi Street has been reopened, becoming a major transport line from north to south of Jinhua.

Commercial and craftsmanship were also a major component of urban life, thus the presence of places like Jiufang Alley (liquor), Cufangling Lane (vinegar), Chaichang Alley (firewood factory), Yanbutou Alley (salt wharf), Youche Alley (oil cart), Meijian Alley (coal and construction materials), and Muhang Alley (timber), among others. Despite the fact that most of these ancient alleys have disappeared, it is easy to imagine the vitality of the local merchants and the prosperity of the marketplaces in the old days.

Some of the ancient streets have intellectual and scholarly references, including Jingxiao Jie (filial piety), Zhuangyuan Lane, and Lize Alleyway, among others. Apart from Jingxiao Street, the others have already disappeared and become history, but they crossed the cultural aspects of Jinhua in different epochs. Zhuangyuan Street was named after Zhu Qiukui (朱秋魁 1708-1788) who achieved success in the military imperial examination and became Military Zhuangyan during the Qianlong reign of Ming dynasty. Lize Alleyway is named after the Lize Academy which was located there and in which the Southern Song dynasty scholar Lü Zuqian (吕祖谦 1137-1181) lectured.

In addition, many streets are named after major monuments. For example, Tongji Lane is named after the nearby Tongji Bridge, and Taxia Siqian Street (under the pagoda, in front of the temple) is located near the Wanfo Pagoda.

Outlooking the Legend Transformed into Street Museum

The attention is now on how to preserve the original vitality of Jinhua’s streets and alleys in order to better nourish the city’s cultural soil. Since 2020, the urban district of Jinhua has been looking for themes and stories connected to the ancient streets to design a cultural pathway along the streets.

For instance, the name of Malu Blind Alley, located in the Mingyuelou Community, dates back to the Annals of Jinhua Countyof the Guangxu Reign (1875-1908). This was the place where the culture related to Wu Opera developed. Now, along that alley, a combination of three kinds of drama, including the Wuzhou and Jinhua dramas, is put on display to show the 500-year development of Wu Opera.

Shiliu Alley (pomegranate) in the Old City area was also subject to refinement and turned into an ancient lane with a lot of stories to tell. Shiliu Alley’s fame dates back to the Song Dynasty, when Southern Song Dynasty prime minister Ye Heng 叶衡 (1114–1175) lived here.

The main theme of the alley is pomegranates, which are painted on both sides of the lane in various different styles. In a colorful way, stories about the fruit and the tree are written and depicted, including prose and poems in praise of nature. All of this make visitors step into a pomegranate cultural journey.

The streets and lanes that were once old, antiquated, and chaotic have been renovated and carefully crafted to show the most distinctive characteristics and historical features. Under the high-rise buildings of the city, these ancient streets and alleys stick to their original intentions, like a street museum, transmitting Jinhua’s unique cultural characteristics and heritage, adding a touch of beautiful background to Jinhua. (Text by Xu Chaohui, images by Xiao Yi, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)

金华老街巷:城市记忆中那抹乡愁  我市组织力量进行全面梳理考证,运用于地名文化遗产保护传承

17日,金华凤凰(高铁)新城首次出让商住用地,吸引各路投资者和市民的目光。几乎没人会关注到,环城西路以北洪源的这宗地块上,一条叫鸿运路的老街巷将随之消失。

鸿运路的变迁,是金华城市发展的一个缩影。近年来,随着金华上浮桥、西关、山嘴头、东湄等城市有机更新项目加快推进,交通路网重新规划建设,一批批老旧街巷相继退出了历史舞台。

为促进地名文化的传承保护,2020年以来,市民政局、市地名文化研究会组织力量对金华城老街巷进行了全面梳理和考证,搜集了600余条具有代表性老街巷的基本概貌和历史信息。其成果《金华城老街巷》近期对外发布。

自上世纪80年代第一次地名普查以来,金华城中600多条老街巷,有200多条已经消失,它们成了这座城市记忆中一抹浓重的乡愁。市地名文化研究会会长王晓明说。

沈新宇和蒋金治两位地名专家是《金华城老街巷》的主要编著者,他们在搜集整理街坊里巷地名资料、故事的过程中,越来越觉得这项工作的重要。

从老街巷看人文

“2000多年前我们的祖先把家园建在婺江之畔时,老地名、老街巷就伴随着这座城市的生长而发展。王晓明说,尽管不少老街巷消失了,但地名背后的金华故事和生活记忆依然口口相传,历久弥新。

说到对消失老地名、老街巷的保护,不能不提到解放东路中段的醋坊岭。醋坊岭原来称苏坊岭,因苏辙之子苏迟及后裔在金为官并在此定居,金华乡亲父老建景苏坊以作纪念,后称为苏坊岭。因金华话”“相近,加之早先又有醋坊,改称醋坊岭。明代大旅行家徐霞客来金华时路过苏坊岭,将所见风土人情记录到游记中。苏坊岭上消失的默相街老地名则由附近的默香苑小区就近移用,双双得到有效的保护和传承。

从老街巷看市井

飘来生活烟火气

相关资料显示,金华江北老城、老街巷的格局,基本上是在1949年前后奠定的。1949年金华城区面积约2.57平方公里,建成区面积约1.86平方公里,有数百条街、坊、里、巷,大体保持着历史上的风貌格局,呈现南北为街、东西为路、岭坊交差、巷通里闭的特点。

金华古时也有东市、西市、南市、北市、中市五处商业、手工业中心,由此衍生出东市街、西市街、南市街、中市街等路名。西市街至今仍是金华最繁华的商业街区,东市街也已打通断头,成为金华南北第三纵

也有以一定规模的商业、手工业活动得名的,如酒坊巷、醋坊岭、柴场巷、盐埠头巷、油车巷、煤建巷、木行里等。但从这些遗存的街巷名中,不难想象昔日婺商的活跃、市井的繁荣。

还有以人文典故得名的,如旌孝街、状元坊、四世一品巷、仙人巷、石狮子头、芝麻山巷、丽泽弄、紫岩巷、仓茅亭等。虽然除了旌孝街外大多已成为历史,但它们都剖视了金华不同时空的文化层面。状元坊因清乾隆时期武状元朱秋魁而得名,丽泽弄得名则是南宋吕祖谦讲学的丽泽书院位于此处。

此外,以沿街标志性古迹命名的也不少,如通济巷以附近通济桥得名,塔下寺前街是因为位于古万佛塔附近,文昌巷里则有文昌阁。

从老街巷看传承

变身街头博物馆

如何让着的老街巷活得更精彩,更好地滋养城市文化土壤?面对老街巷保护传承的新课题,2020年以来,金华市区从背街小巷破题,以精心、精细、精致、精品为要求,挖掘历史文脉和地理特点,一条街巷设计一个主题、挖掘一个故事,打造主题精品示范街。

金华明月楼社区马路里的地名在清光绪《金华县志》就已出现。这样一条老巷子,打造成婺剧文化一条巷,通过婺州戏、金华戏、人生戏三个主题展示婺剧500年的发展历史和当代成就。

婺州古城的石榴巷通过主题提炼,也被打造成一条会讲故事的老巷子。石榴巷始于宋代,南宋宰相叶衡就住在这条巷子里,一路走来已近千年时光。

石榴巷的主题当然就是石榴了。巷子两侧的墙上,不同的石榴各有风采。还有那些关于石榴的历史、赞美的诗文,让路人踏上了一条石榴的文化旅途。

一条条曾经老、旧、乱的街巷,通过环境整治、精雕细琢,呈现出最鲜明的特色和历史印记。在城市的高楼大厦之下,老街巷们坚守初心,犹如一座座街头博物馆,传承着金华独有的文化特色和人文底蕴,为金华这座全国文明城市增添了一抹抹亮丽的底色。(记者 徐朝晖/文 肖异/制图)





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