5 Things: Jeffrey Schwab on BJ's Funky Cultural Facts
Everybody knows that The Hutong pretty much rocks, as do the people who work there. Together they work together to educate us about all things China. As Education Programs Coordinator at The Hutong, Jeffrey Schwab is basically a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Beijing. This guy seriously knows his stuff. And for that reason we thought he would be the perfect person to shed some light on a few of Beijing’s funky cultural customs.
1. Dates and pears are not a good date
Although you may find many date trees within the beautiful traditional Beijing courtyards around the city, you won’t find date trees located in the same courtyard as a pear tree. This separation is due to the Chinese language and the countless number of homonyms that result from a tonal language. The word for the fruit “date” is zao (枣) which also sounds like the Chinese word for “early” or “zero” (早). The word for pear is li (梨) which also sounds like the word for “departure” or li kai (离开). So unless you want to wish all of your guests an early departure, you better not plant a date and pear tree next to one another!
2. Death to the tenth degree
Some emperors really don’t like people. Previous to Zhu Di, or the Yongle emperor, there would be cases where emperors would exterminate traitorous officials' entire clans “to the ninth degree” of relations. Zhu Di, however, encountered one such official who pushed him to go even further. When Fang Xiaoru refused to acknowledge Zhu Di as the true emperor after he usurped his nephew from the throne, the Yong Le emperor then exterminated Fang Xiaoru’s entire clan (including all of poor Fang’s students) to the tenth degree of relations!
3. Let’s go buy some East West
Often times when “old” Beijingers give out directions they won’t tell you to turn right or left, but rather North, South, East or West, so know your directions. But why do Chinese talk about going to buy 东西 when they go shopping (literally going to buy “East, West?”). Apparently, the four cardinal directions are supposed to correspond with different elements, and East and West correspond to wood and earth (or rock), two element that when carried in a basket won’t fall through. Makes more sense than trying to carry water, fire or air in a basket.
4. Who you gonna call?
Ghost street or Guijie 簋街 has earned its nickname due to the nearby Dongzhimen gate area. In the past, Dongzhimen was used as the gate to carry the dead out of the city. The area where Ghost Street is located used to be an area of coffin manufacturing. Think about that next time you bite into your spicy baby lobster.
5. The one-pomegranate policy
You can tell a lot about the inside of a traditional Beijing courtyard based on the decorations in front of and around the front entrance. Whether it is the shape of the door markers, or the symbolism on the doors itself, one can see that auspicious signs abound. One such example of an auspicious door design that you might find on hutong courtyard doors is a shape that is somewhat reminiscent of the pomegranate fruit. Because pomegranates are filled with seeds, this shape was supposed to represent the desire for a “fertile” household, one bearing many children.
The Hutong: 1 Jiudaowan Zhongxiang, Beixinqiao, Dongcheng 东城区九道湾中巷1号（159 0104 6127）
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