The Lost Rivers of the Forbidden City

8/9/2019 The Lost Rivers of the Forbidden City

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Th S brothrs: Jiami, a 66-yar-oldir, ad his brothr Jiayi, a 57-yar-old lctricia.

Sun Jiaming:

Or hos was i Jiqi Xia(Lcky La). 500mtrs to th ast was Wafuji(Wll of thPrics Masios) ad 200 mtrs to th wstwas Tozi H(Pip Rivr).

From th Mi to th Qi dyastis, abot tpricly masios wr bilt i this locatioad bcas thr was a wll with vry swtwatr arby, it was calld Wll of th PricsMasios. Th imprial capital had b bilthr for 800 yars, dmostrati a ratdal of sod jdmt. Sch a idal spotcold oly hav b chos with a vry ooddrstadi of oraphy ad astroomy!

My radfathr ad fathr hld positios i thatioal ovrmts Railway Dpartmt, oaftr th othr. Wh my radfathr bohtthis hos i 1938, h ot somo to com adsik a wll i th cortyard. Th ma askdhow dp it shold b ad my radfathr saidh shold jst di dow to whr th watr wasswt. It was amazi that h d dow t

Th Lost Rivrs of th

Forbidd City

zha (abot 23 mtrs) all i o o. At thispoit h rachd a sady layr, which was thsdimt from th oriial Yodi Rivr. Assoo as th wll dir saw this typ of soil, hsaid w wold soo xi ji(wash ot th wll) a profssioal trm mai that th wll isrady to b flshd ot ad that it is cssaryto di ay dpr. W had a pmp to xi ji. Wpord watr ito th wll, all th whil sith pmp which had pistos to flsh ot thfoamy sdimt. Aftr th sdimt had all bdraid ot, th frsh watr radally startd toris. At first it was rathr dirty, bt as it ros, itbcam clar ad clar, ad vry soo it wasclar. Th watr had a lovly tast, so frsh adcool.

I thos days w didt hav a frid, so i thsmmr w pt som of th wll watr ito awood barrl to chill watrmlo, ccmbr

ad swt-sor plm jic. If w wr worridthat th milk wold o off, wd mak a framot of wir tti to hold th milk bottls, adth lowr thm ito th barrl so th wll watrcold chill thm.

I th 1940s, Biji alrady had riwatr, bt as th spply was poor, ot vryhoshold had it. I ordr to provid tap watr,

Blow is th scod i a sris of Biji watr oral historis, as told to Wa Jia by Su Jiami adSu Jiayi.

MY HOMe AnD WATeR: A PeOPLeS ACCOunT

BeIJIng WATeR ORAL HISTORY SeRIeS

Traslatio by Madli Ross ad Fa Li

By Wa Jia


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Th Lost Rivrs of th Forbidd City | Biji Watr Oral History no. 2 | Ju 2008

th ovrmt wold pt wll watr ito watrtowrs at th w watrworks i Dozhim(D east gat). Thr wr rstrictios o howmch ri watr popl cold s bcas atfirst thr wast mch watr availabl. Bt aftrwlls wr sk i th wstr ad sothr

sbrbs, th ordiary popl of Biji cold allstart si tap watr.

At th d of 1948, wh th Libratio Armysrrodd Biji, watr ad lctricity i thcity ctr was ct off, ad or ri watralso stoppd. Watr from th commal wllscoldt b trasportd1 so all of th ihborsi or ara wold com ovr to or yard to ftchwatr. It was th that or watr pmp cam itoits ow. It startd pmpi arly i th mori,

rstd for a whil at midday, ad cotidpmpi i th aftroo, riht til dark.Thr was always plty of watr, ad it vrdrid p. Th wathr was vry cold at th tim,ad with th cortyard totally covrd i ic, thpmp rally ot s throh a toh tim.

Thr was also a wll at th at of th Yohua

(Privat) Hospital, ot far from th tracto Lcky La. A lar pool mad of wood hadb bilt xt to it with ords floati i thwatr. If passrsby flt thirsty thy cold jstwalk ovr, pick p a ord ad hav a drik

withot havi to pay for it. Hors carts, dokycarts ad v camls comi past lad withoods wold stop to drik. Dokys, horss,mls ad camls all kw th plac. Thy alllikd walki hr, v from as far as QiamStrt (Frot gat Strt). It was as if thy kw

1 Popl wr likly afraid of vturi too far

from hom iv th ts civil war situatio.

thr was watr oi for fr hr, that is lssyo broht a watr cart to t som. Th yohad to pay a littl. Latr, dri th tim of thCltral Rvoltio, th Yoha Hospital wastrd ito chap hosi. I dot kow xactlywh or how th wll disappard, bt ow that

ara has bcom a foot path.

At o tim, thr was a family from na Chizi(Soth Pod) that sold watr. Thy wold bp bfor daybrak filli thir oval watr cartwith watr. O top of th tak thr was a corkstoppr ad thy also had a rbbr hos ad apair of wood bckts, commoly kow asshuishao. Thy sd to stop th cart i th strtad s ths shuishaoto carry watr to thhosholdrs ad shopkprs alo th strt.

Istad of kocki at popls doors, thy jstsd to call ot, Wv com to bri watr.Aftr o watr vat had b filld, if yo saido wast oh, thyd ask yo to wait amomt ad bri aothr load. Yo oly had topay a littl for it. Th watr ad th srvic wrchap, ad bcas popls watr cosmptiowas low, o vat of watr was oh to last a

whil. Popl havt sd watr carflly likthat sic th 1960s. I th past, popl wrfssy abot ri a hoshold frally adwr loath to wast watr, ad as a rslt thyvr flt that watr was i short spply. Bt

by th 1980s, this had chad so mch somtims th watr was ct off for a tim orsomtims thr was oly a trickl of watrbcas th prssr was low. now that thr arwatr mtrs to calclat vryos watr bill,som popl who ar spcially ma pt a larbckt dr th tap, so that wh th mtrist worki, thy collct bckt aftr bckt.

I dont know why the water doesnt flowany more; what was once living water has

turned into stinking dead water.


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Thiki carflly abot it, Biji has chada rat dal. Aftr oly a fw dcads, somwlls rmai bt ar withot watr ad all that islft of othr wlls is simply a plac am.

Sun Jiayi:

Or hos was oly 200 mtrs from gu go(Forbidd City), with thTozi H (Pip Rivr)ri xt to it. Th Tozi H had qit afw ams:Jishui H(gold Watr Rivr), YuH(Jad Rivr) or Yu H(emprors Rivr).Accordi to th yi-ya fiv lmts thory,watr that coms from th wst blod to thlmt old, so it was calld th gold WatrRivr. Ad bcas it flowd slowly throhsomthi similar to a jad-stddd blt, it was

also calld th Jad Blt Rivr. Th ihbors ior viciity all sd to call it th Pip Rivr.

Th watr i th Pip Rivr oriiatd i thChapi aras Baifu Qua (Whit FloatiSpri). It wt throh Kmi Lak, flowdparalll to Cha H(Lo Rivr), ito ShishaHai(Shisha Lak), ad fially wt ito th gold

Watr Rivr ar Tiaam (gat of HavlyPac). Th gold Watr Rivr was also dividd pito th ir ad otr sctios.

Th ir gold Watr Rivr flowd past mayhalls ad scrt passaways i th ForbiddCity, with for trs i th rivr of 180 drsad too may 90 dr bds to cot.

Th most itrsti thi was that th astad wst baks of th rivr wr diffrt.Th wstr sid arst th Forbidd Cityhad railis mad of itricatly workd whitmarbl ad th astr sid cosistd of a vryplai, waist-hih ry brick mbakmt with

yllow ridi. At its widst part, th rivr wassix mtrs wid, whil th arrowst part wasoly a littl ovr o mtr wid. Th rivrzizad cotiosly ad dd p as a littlloz-shapd tail. Why was it costrctd likthis? exprts claimd that th ir gold WatrRivr was a drao! Th wst sid was thohtto b th crativ ya sid, whil th ast sidwas th tl yi sid, with th loz-shapd

pattr bi th draos tail. Thr ar mayitrii pattrs lik this i th ForbiddCity.

Th 52-mtr-wid otr Pip Rivr was otoly th Forbidd Citys first li of dfc,

bt cold also b sd to fiht firs. Firs i thForbidd City wr a trrifyi prospct. WhthJiafu go(establishi Happiss Hall)caht fir i 1923, it was pt ot with watrfrom th Pip Rivr. I th past, thr wr lotsflowrs i th sctios of rivr flowi past TaiMiao(Imprial Acstral Tmpl), ad Shji Ta(gods of Soil ad grai Altar). Th old ma wholookd aftr th Tmpl movd abot th rivro a littl wood pt with a shack o it. If yowalkd dow to th rivrbak, th old ma sd

to psh th boat ovr with his bar pol, ask ifyo watd ay lots pods, ad lt yo choosthm. H wold pll ot th os yo askdfor, ti thm i a bdl with ma lia (Chissmall iris) ad aftr h passd thm ovr to

yo o th bak, yo paid him a littl moy.I thos days, yo cold walk riht dow to thwatr bcas th rivr didt hav as may brickmbakmts as ow. At o sch plac, yocold t to th watr by th paoda tr arth corr towr. Th boatma also had twobaskts boltd to th sid of th boat that wr

sbmrd i th watr o fll of all kidsof liv fish, lik whitbait, crcias2 ad littlcarp; th othr cotaid littl shrimps. Thywr vry chap to by. H also had littl sailsad clams. now thrs o lft. If yo o adhav a look ow, th orthwst corr of th PipRivr is fll of bl-r ala.

Wh witr arrivd, th orth brach of thPip Rivr froz ito thick ic. W wold tdow oto th ic, chisl a bi hol ad o

fishi, bdld p i or thick cotto-padddcloths. evry ow ad aai wd pll ot afish, flappi ad boci, th aftr a whilit wold stop movi. nxt tim wd look, itwold b froz solid o th ic! Lots of poplwt fishi thr i witr bt som wt

jst to o skati. I thos days popl coldt

2 Carp.


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afford ic skats so w sd to ail a thick picof wir oto littl wood boards ad strap thmo or ft to skat o. I 1954 ad 1955 whth Cltral Palac opd p ic skati riks,popl who had skati boots wt to skat oth ic riks. Popl with o ic skats skatd o

th ral ic of th Pip Rivr.

I th past, popl also sd to com hr i thwitr to t blocks of ic. Thy chislld itoth ic with drilli rods ad ct 2 mtr by 3mtr blocks of ic, slid thm to th d of thrivr with hookd pols, ad hald thm pplaks oto hors-draw carts. Cartload aftrcartload of ic wt to th ic hos otsidDshm (Virt ad Victory gat)3 whrit was stord, a layr of rds btw th layrs

of ic. With straw matti ad th arth packd

arod thm, thos blocks of ic cold last fromarly witr til Ast or Sptmbr of th

followi yar. At that tim vryo i Bijisd atral ic, ot lik th rfriratio thsdays that rqirs lctricity. Jst thik howmch ry was savd!

I th fll hat of smmr wh myradmothr coldt stad it ay mor,shd t m to o to th ic stora dpot iDohuam (east Flowry gat) to by ic. Yopaid at th trac ad somo smashd thic ito littl pics, th shovlld it crchi

ad cracki ito a ba ad hadd it ovr, ottoo fssy abot how mch yo ot. If yo rahom as fast as yo cold ad pt it i a woodbasi i th middl of th room, it cooldvrythi dow straihtaway!

Th cold driks at th Doa Mall wr also

3 I orthr Biji.

coold dow with ic chips i a wood barrl.Thy had soft driks, swt-sor plm jic,vrythi! Th drik bottls wr i a ovalwood barrl, mor tha two ft hih, whichrstd o bricks. It cost fift cts a bottl,which I cold vr afford, bt Id la ovr

thm, stari. It sr mad m rdy for som!

na H Ya (Soth Rivr) was jst whr yocam ot ofWaqi Xia(May ClbratiosLa). This rivr was coctd to ChapRivr ad gold Watr Rivr. With o-olooki aftr it, this littl sctio of th rivrdd p bi jst a polltd ditch bcasvryo thrw thir dirty watr ito it. Qita lot of popl also had pis ad wold takthm dow to th watr to wash thm. evry

smmr, th ara bcam barabl bcas of

th mosqitos, th flis ad th stch. Whthr was a dowpor, th ditch filld riht

p til th watr was lvl with th srfacof th road, ad sic popl o biks coldttll what was rai-covrd road ad what wasrivr, thyd somtims fall i! I 1955, na H

Ya was simply filld i ad th ditch bcama swr with a road bilt o top of it. I 1958,Bi H Ya was also filld i. Th arlist plawas to chal watr ovr from Shisha Hai(Shisha Lak), bt latr this pla was shlvdbcas it was cosidrd too bi a projct. Thatsth raso why th lvls of th road ad th

pavmt4

ar so diffrt i that ara.

Th sctio of th rivr calld Chap Rivrwas watr that cam from th viwi platformxt to Tiaam, th flowd ast past th

4 Th road is dsid for vhicls ad

pdstrias, whras th pavmt is dsid for

pdstrias oly.

I cant imagine how much water thiswill waste and to tell the truth, it cant

be any sort of long-term solution!


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na H Ya riht p to th Distiishd gstsTowr. Latr th rivr bcam a stora valt.Dri th disastros t yars of th CltralRvoltio, lots of flas, bars, sloas, propsad so o wr sd wh Chairma Maorviwd th Rd gards ad mass rallis. All of

thos this had to b stord away somwhr,so th Chap Rivr was covrd with slabs ofcocrt ad trd ito a sort of warhos.

It was lft lik that riht p til 2003, ad thslabs of cocrt wr oly rmovd wh thrsidts i th ara wr movd ot. Th thplac was trd ito Chap Park.

Spaki of th Cltral Rvoltio, th BiLik up5 of th Rd gards was happiat that tim. H mbrs of Rd gardsthrod to Biji, ad of cors it was hardto oraiz this proprly for so may popl.nihborhood committs mad vryohlp ot with billti ad vry family had to

pt p with it. Or family clard ot a roomjst for Rd gards. Dri th day th Rdgards wold corat i Tiaam, ththyd com back at iht to slp. At th hihtof Maos prsoality clt som Rd gardscam to Biji jst to wait til Mao cam otto viw th crowds. May of thm also madthir way to th Pip Rivr to scoop p watri bottls lowrd ito th rivr o pics ofstri. Why did thy do this? Thy wr drth imprssio that th watr i th Pip Rivr

was what Chairma Mao drak. Thyd tak

5 I th bii of th Cultural Rvolutio,

th Rd guards atiowid wr prmittd, v

courad, to travl aywhr i th coutry fr

of char i ordr to s Chairma Mao ad by so

corati, cotribut to th furor to lauch th

Cultural Rvolutio. Th policy, dlss to say, cratd

chaos, spcially for th railway systm.

th watr back hom ad tll popl that thwatr thy had broht back was th watr thatChairma Mao drak. now this hav chad.All th rivr corss ar bi tidid p adar bi cocrtd at th drop of a hat, so thydot hav ay atral charm ay mor. Ths

days, th gold Watr Rivr dost flow aymor, ad thy hav bilt Chap Park to thast of th na Chizi(Soth Pod) at Yisi gou

(Silvr Thrad Caal).

I dot kow why th watr dost flow aymor; what was oc livi watr has trd itostiki dad watr. Althoh th ara has bbatifid, whats th s? It was rportd thatthr was a otbrak of bl-r ala i TaiHu (Lak Tai) this yar. Wh its hot ad thrslots of polltd watr, th watr i th moats iBiji bcoms black, racid, smlly ad fll ofala too.6

now thy ar tti rady for th Olympicgams ad watr from th Miy Rsrvoir isbi divrtd to flsh ot th rivrs i Biji.I cat imai how mch watr this will wastad to tll th trth, it cat b ay sort of lo-trm soltio!

CommentS:

Th moats otsid th Forbidd City bilt ith Mi Dyasty ar kow as Tozi H (Pip

Rivr) by local popl. Thy ar altothr 3,300mtrs lo, 52-mtrs wid ad 4.1-mtrs dpwith a total capacity of 500,000 cbic mtrs

6 For a satllit ima of th moats of Biji

s http://www.orc.jaxa.jp//imdata/topics/2007/

tp070328.html. Also s http://www.vir.ov.c/e/

ws/99-8-a.htm ad this http://www.chiatoday.com.c/

elish/200210/rivr.htm

The water in the moats in Beijing becomesblack, rancid, smelly and full of algae.


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of watr. Th moats playd a importat roli dfdi th city dri th imprial ra.Historically, city walls had b bilt arodth Otr City, th Ir City, th Imprial Cityad th Forbidd City. For sts of moats alsohlpd to provid imprabl fortificatio for

th whol city.7

Th moats had also b sd for trasportatiobfor th Qi Dyasty. Wh th Mimprors dcidd to mak Biji thir capital,a vast amot of timbr was dd to bildthir rad palacs. Forsts i th local Xishaara (Wstr Hills) wr th sorc of bildimatrials at first. Howvr, aftr yars ofdforstatio, local spply cold ot mt thdmad of th xpadi city ay mor. Most of

th lar pics of timbr th had to b floatdo th grad Caal8 all th way to Biji fromth ppr rachs of th Yatz Rivr. Mostof th rai ad military spplis dd byth capital wr also trasportd by watr fromsothr Chia. Th oriial layot of th MiDyasty moat systm was prsrvd by thQi Dyasty. I th smmr, bars carryioods travlld o th watr ad i th witr,th icd srfac providd a chap mas oftrasportatio.

Prviosly, th watr i Tozi H was riwatr of a hih qality. It oriiatd i th JadSpri i th Xisha ara (Wstr Hills) adwas rsrvd for th s of th imprial cort ith Forbidd City. Th Tozi H was likdto th rivrs ad laks i th city. go Shoji,th famos hydralic ir of th YaDyasty, divrtd watr from t or mor sprisotsid th city, sch as th Baifu Qua (WhitFloati Spri) i Chapi Coty; thrbyicrasi th flow of watr i Bijis rivrs

ad maki watr trasportatio possibl. Bti th last fw dcads, Biji has droa svr watr shorta. Th spris at Yuqua

7 Shttp://www.orc.jaxa.jp//imdata/

topics/2007/tp070328.htmlfor a satllit map of th

moats of Biji.

8 Shttp://www.chiapa.com/caal.html ad

http://.wikipdia.or/wiki/grad_Caal_of_Chia

Sha (Jad Spri Hill) hav all drid ot adca o lor spply th rivrs, laks adscic spots of Biji with watr. nowadays,th watr i Bijis moats coms from thMiy Rsrvoir, with th watr flow bimaally rlatd. I ordr to sav watr, may

sctios of th citys rivrs hav b trcatd.As a rslt, ri watr has bcom dadwatr ad th qality of th watr has srioslydtrioratd.

Bfor tap watr cam ito s i 1910, most ofth 11 millio popl i Biji livd o wllwatr. Thr wr 1,258 wlls i th city admayhuto(typical Biji laways) wramd aftr thir wlls, sch as Wafji(Wll of th Prics Masios). Th S

brothrs livd ar Doham (east Flowrygat) ad th top qality watr from th wll ithir cortyard probably oriiatd i th samplac as th watr i th Wll of th PricsMasios.

myHomeand Water: a PeoPleS aCCount

Biji, oc famos for its swt spri watrad clar-flowi rivrs is ow ifamos forits polltd caals ad drid p rivrbds. MyHom ad Watr: A Popls Accoutprovids arar csord limps of lif ad watr i thacit capital of Biji ad srrodi aras as told by lotim rsidts.

Traslatio, diti ad oli pblicatio ofth sris by Chis athor Dai Qi ad ProbItratioal has b mad possibl by fdifrom th Fodatio Op Socity Istitt

(Z). For mor iformatio, cotact ProbItratioal at [email protected]

The Lost Rivers of the Forbidden City

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