In the 1980s, Taiwanese writer Lung Ying-tai visited Beijing and felt a deep sense of melancholy: “The overall impression of the new architecture is that it lacks individuality, character, and aesthetic appeal, destroying the warm, traditional atmosphere of the ancient city, leaving old Beijing nowhere to be found. These historical sites belong to the entire Chinese nation, and they belong to me. I feel a sense of deprivation as if someone destroyed them while I was away.”
During the late stages of the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist general Fu Zuoyi, stationed in Beiping (now Beijing), was influenced by his daughter, who was a Communist spy and also considered the protection of Beiping’s cultural relics. He chose not to resist and surrendered to the Communists, thus preserving the ancient city of Beijing.
However, the old city of Beijing, which was not destroyed by bullets, completely disappeared during peacetime. The then Beijing Municipal Party Secretary Peng Zhen once stood on the Tiananmen Gate Tower and told the renowned architect and Beijing Deputy Mayor Liang Sicheng: “Chairman Mao said that in the future, when you look from here, you should see chimneys everywhere!” Liang Sicheng was shocked and argued that Beijing, a city concentrated on ancient cultural architecture, should not develop industrially. It should become a political and cultural center like Washington, D.C.
In February 1950, Liang Sicheng proposed to preserve the old city of Beijing entirely. He suggested that the new government administrative area be built in the western suburbs of Beijing at Yuetan. This layout would allow the old and new to complement each other and provide more significant development space for the city. However, the new plan was immediately rejected, with Mao Zedong ultimately deciding: “Demolishing Beijing’s archways and opening holes in the city gates is a political issue!”
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin wanted old Beijing preserved
Lin Huiyin, Liang Sicheng’s wife, who also opposed the demolition of old Beijing buildings, directly confronted Peng Zhen in his office to argue. Peng Zhen knew nothing about architecture or aesthetics but could only cite Mao Zedong: “This is Chairman Mao’s directive. Chairman Mao said the city walls symbolized feudalism, blocking the peasants from the emperor. Today, the Party and the people are heart to heart; we don’t need walls.” Lin Huiyin had to compromise, suggesting that the walls could be transformed into a ring park, with flowers and grapevines planted, benches installed, and stairs built for climbing the walls, with openings for traffic at key points, allowing Beijing citizens to rest and entertain. However, Lin Huiyin’s suggestion was also not adopted.
Later, still passionate about preserving the archways, Liang Sicheng wrote to Zhou Enlai again, using the archway on Jingde Street in front of the Imperial Ancestral Temple as an example. He detailed the exquisite scenery formed by the peaks of the Western Hills seen through the archway and the Fuchengmen Gate Tower at sunset.
However, the response was still “demolish.” Liang Sicheng’s series of efforts to protect historical sites also laid the groundwork for his persecution during the Cultural Revolution.
Amid weak opposition, a large-scale campaign began to demolish Beijing’s old city walls and buildings. Beijing originally had three layers of city walls: the central palace city (the Forbidden City), the second layer was the imperial city, and the third layer was the capital city — divided into the inner city and outer city (the southern city). The three layers of walls, inside and out, now only leave the solitary Forbidden City. The outermost capital city walls disappeared after 1949.
After the old city walls and archways were destroyed, new buildings sprang up within the old city of Beijing. Liang Sicheng again proposed that new high-rise buildings must have Chinese-style “big roofs.” He hoped to preserve the appearance of the old city by realizing the “silhouette of Chinese architecture.” However, a “big criticism” in 1955 left Liang Sicheng ill, and his confidant of 36 years, Lin Huiyin, died of depression that same year.
In 1957, Liang Sicheng wrote an article saying that demolishing Beijing’s city walls and towers was like digging his flesh and peeling his skin. He said the brutal treatment of ancient buildings caused him immense pain. But by then, Liang Sicheng was powerless. All he could do was rush to the site each time an archway was demolished to see it one last time.
The demolition of the old city walls and archways did not stop the Communist Party completely. Beijing intensified its old city transformation after the reform and opening in the 1980s. The most obvious change was the disappearance of hutongs, narrow streets or alleys commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, especially Beijing.
According to historical records, Beijing’s hutongs developed to more than 1,800 during the Qing Dynasty, over 1,900 during the Republic of China, and more than 2,550 at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic. In January 1998, the Map Publishing House found that there were still 990 hutongs in Beijing. By the turn of the century, on average, one hutong disappeared every two days during urban redevelopment.
In 1972, Liang Sicheng, who had been criticized during the Cultural Revolution, passed away in poverty and illness. On his deathbed, he repeatedly said: “Many cities in the world have grown up, and we should not follow the wrong path others have taken.”
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