The rise of East Street originated in the Tang Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, Chengdu was prosperous in Sui city and big city, but it was a suburb outside Dongcheng wall. In the middle of Tang Dynasty, the population of Chengdu gradually increased, and it migrated from the original city wall to the outside. After Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was fortunate in Shu, Xuanzong, who admired Buddhism, built a large-scale Daci Temple in the east of the city, which enabled Wei Gao to repair and repair, and the eastern suburbs gradually became prosperous. After Wei Gao dug Yuxi, before it flowed through Daci Temple, Hejiang Pavilion was built outside the confluence of two rivers, and Bodaiji and Baoying Temple were built nearby. In addition, the new Nanshi, the south gate of Chengdu, opened in Zhenyuan period, made the southeast area of Chengdu prosperous. As the main trunk road extending outward from the old city to the east, East Street naturally prospers with the times. When Gao Pian was appointed as our envoy to give up, he expanded the construction of city walls again, and the land surrounded by the east circle was particularly wide, and the prosperity of the East Street reached a new level. Its history of building a new city is supported by Zi Zhi Tong Jian Ji Tang.
As early as the Five Dynasties, the south of Daci Temple was the market place in the area of East Street, and became a resort for merchants and amusement after the Five Dynasties. Speaking of the night market in East Street, many old customs have been used for many years, and the lively scene has been passed down from generation to generation with few interruptions. Every evening, department stores gather and set up stalls on the steps. Tourists jostle shoulder to shoulder, like a fair. According to the old established rules, the city guards are vendors selling food from Zouma Street, such as rice noodles, Dandan Noodles, braised pork pot kui, sweet water surface ... sugar, oil and fruit, Sugar-Coated Berry, but all kinds of snacks among Chengdu people can be seen when visiting the night market, and the smell of nose and mouth is mouth-watering. Down the road, west to the Taotai yamen, there are Jianghu entertainers and fortune tellers. Such as "Zhang Banxian" and "Li Shenpo" gathered in this section, and the mouths of iron mouths were splashed, and there were different opinions on the cause and effect. And the walk-on, juggling and selling plaster pills. It doesn't matter whether you buy it or not. Just those "unique skills" such as chest rubble, broken sticks on your back and cracked blue bricks on your head are dazzling. Further down, to Zhitai Yamen, most of them are restaurants dealing in delicacies, and their grades and styles are naturally different from those of the street stalls. Follow to Yanshikou, this section of the street is surrounded by Yangguang grocery merchants who are late in business, and there are also a few vendors who sell used books. Close to Yanshikou, it has become a world of small-scale industrial products. There are various kinds of small commodities in the forest, and the voices of selling and shouting are one after another. The lively scene here has been extended from the beginning of the lights to midnight, and East Street has also become a daily amusement resort for the people. More people do not come here to buy things, but take this opportunity to play. Therefore, in the old days, there was a saying among the people that "drive East Street".
Mr. Li Jieren, a well-known writer, wrote in his "stagnant water": "All the big silk shops, big horse shops, big jewelry shops, big leather goods shops, all the shop names, and water customers selling Su-Guang groceries are all in East Street." This passage is a description of the prosperity of East Street after the Qing Dynasty. The all-in-one top-class interior paint ceiling has a bright facade, and each signboard has its own emphasis. It is painted with gold on a black background, which highlights extravagance. Let's start with the East Street, which starts from the East Gate in the east and ends at the south entrance of Dajin Street in the west. Five years after Guangxu, it was changed to the south of Nanfushi Street. There is an archway at the street corner, and the word "both beautiful and worshipful" on the banner comes from Zuo Si's "Shu Du Fu". To the north of the street is the Chenghuang Temple, where many restaurants and department stores gather. It is said that there were once people who sold Shiquan Dabu Soup in the temple, and the business was once booming. The section down to South Shamao Street is Middle East Street, formerly known as the middle section of Xiadong Street. In the Ming Dynasty, the Tax Division Tea Bureau was located in the north of the street, with Jingxian Guild Hall in the west. Further down is Upper Middle East Street, formerly known as the upper section of Lower East Street. There is Liu's Temple in the north of the street, Xiang's Temple in the west, and it is next to the Qing Dynasty Imperial Court, also known as the Qing Dynasty Imperial Office, which specializes in supervising local military affairs in the Ming Dynasty. Next is Chengshou East Street. Before Qing Dynasty, the street was called the east section of Middle East Street, and its west exit was south of Chunxi Road. The northern end of the street is the seat of the Dusi yamen in Ming Dynasty, which was also called the main street in the East Gate at that time. In the Qing dynasty, the former headquarters was changed to the official residence of the city guard guerrilla department, which was in charge of guarding the provincial capital, so the name of the street was changed to the east street of the city guard. By the way, it is the West Middle East Street, formerly known as the West Section of Middle East Street. In the Ming dynasty, the long history department and the provincial judges' yamen were located in the north of the street. After the change of dynasty, the Qing judges' office was still located on the former site of the Ming dynasty. The last section to Yanshikou is Xidong Street, and there is a fish market in the east of the street, where fish are bought and sold. This street is also the gathering area of Pitou merchants in old Chengdu, and "Ma Yulong", which is near the intersection of Qingshiqiao in the south of the street, is the earliest big department store in Chengdu. The whole East Street is divided into six sections, with a total length of about1520m.
As Mr. Li Jieren said in his article, this East Street, which is called the "First Street", has become the refining stone of Chengdu's commercial culture with its rich historical background. After the history of China entered the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the commercial atmosphere on East Street became stronger and stronger. First of all, it is the "Silk and Satin Merchants". There are hundreds of merchants specializing in silk and satin trade on various street sections of more than a thousand meters. Among them, "Gande Yuanhe", "Yang Renhe Chang" and "Wu Yufeng Yuan" are time-honored brands of silk and satin trade. There are also dozens of computer rooms engaged in silk weaving, such as "Yang Changmao Quan" located in Xiangshi Temple on Upper Middle East Street and "Luo Rongxing" located in Chengshou Street, whose silk and satin production capacity was the highest in Chengdu and even Sichuan at that time. In addition, there are nearly 100 firms specializing in the production of lake crepe, such as Cai Xingshenglong in Xiadong Street, Dechang Store in Zhang Qian Taiyong in Upper Middle East Street and Wang Yitailong in Upper East Street. In addition, such as Peng Kaiyuan in Middle East Street and Zhong Yongxing in West East Street, dozens of businesses dealing in cloth and foreign groceries were counted, but all the silk and cloth merchants who were slightly famous at that time gathered in East Street to open stores. Therefore, East Street became a street in Chengdu at that time.
In addition to the prosperity of Jietou industry in East Street, the famous firms of "Jade Business Gang" in Chengdu at that time also gathered in this street, especially in the area of Chengshou Street. For example, there are always more than ten or twenty "Zhang Jiyigong", "Guo Yuanmaoxing" and "Chen Fuyuan Sheng" who handle jade groceries. There are also more than 20 merchants operating the railing industry, such as "Zhang Tongxing Chang" and "He Yongyuan Chang", stationed in various sections of East Street. The "Li Shidehui" silver house set up in West Middle East Street and the "Hao Jian shun ming" account house in Yunxiang Store in West East Street were both powerful private banks at that time. The stationing of "Huayang Pharmacy" is a sign that Chengdu medicinal herbs help to penetrate to the east street. Followed by the Middle East Street's "Golden and Fine", the Upper Middle East Street's "Yang Wanyuan Heng" and the Lower East Street's "Heng Chang New", there are about fifteen * * *. The "White Paper Gang" came, and more than ten paper shops such as "Zhang Yi Chang Heng" opened their doors to accept customers. The "shop gang" has also come, and more than 30 inns and shops, large and small, such as "Zou Dechang Store", are distributed on all blocks. There are Yang Yunlong and Zhong Si Xing Tong of Youmi Gang, Chen Guangfengtai of Tea Gang, Yao Jin Xing Cheng of Fan Zhuang Gang, Zhang Jin Long Xing of Golden Gang, Xia Bu Gang, Yan Jiu Gang, etc. A firm named "Zhong Ming Sheng Yuan" opened a shop in a section of West Middle East Street to sell charcoal and carboniferous. "Knife and scissors gang" is not far behind, and its "Liao Guangdong" located in Chengshou Street and its new number are both outstanding in the knife and scissors industry in old Chengdu.
During the Republic of China, Yang Sen was in charge of Sichuan, and he carried out the new policy of building roads. First, the East Street will be widened, and the street surface of the original red sandstone slab will be changed into a gravel road. Then the cornices along the street are trimmed to achieve a neat and beautiful effect. This move caused resistance from merchants along the street. At that time, the famous "five old men and seven sages" in Chengdu made a special trip to visit Yang Sen, but Yang Sen refused. Yang Sen also dispatched military and police to urge the construction. Later, the commercial field and Chunxi Road were built one after another, and this former commercial first street gradually faded away, but its splendor, which has lasted for hundreds of years since the Tang Dynasty, remained in the historical picture of old Chengdu.
(The next article "East Street of Financial Center")