Foreword

In the past my books have been published only in text form.

Occasionally I have used a few photos for supplementary

purposes. But, at the request of the Jiangsu Art Publishing

House, I have recently completed this book, Old Beijing, which

contains both text and pictures. The commissioning editor of

the publishing house told me that the theme and style would

have no limits set by them. So I decided that the book should be

composed of three parts. The first part would be written in chronological order. It would be a history of Beijing from the "Ji"

period of three thousand years before to the late Qing dynasty

( 1644-191 1 ) and the early Republic of China (191 1-1949) in the

early 20th century. The second part would be a description of

life in Beijing during the late Qing and early Republic period.

And the third part would concentrate on the characteristics of

Beijing and its people in the past. After hearing these ideas, the

commissioning editor, while praising them as "rather ambitious" ,

expressed his concern that it would be impossible to get any

good photos to illustrate the first part.

Without much thinking, I wrote the first part in one stretch.

But when I reread it, my own brows began to knit. Where on

earth can we find photos for the Liao, Jin, Yuan and Ming

dynasties, not to say the period of Ji? Before the publishing

house made any further comments, I gave this direction up. I

had to start all over again. For a couple of days, I took pains to

work out a new plan, but that would not do; then another, but

that would not work either. I had never had such experiences

in writing in the past. Helpless, I faced my bookcases and

began scanning books. Suddenly my eyes fell on a book en-

titled Is This Beijing? , compiled by Jiang Mingde. It is a col-

lection of articles about the city written by some elderly lite-

rati residing in Beijing. The articles were published between

1919t0 1949.

I opened the book and began to read the Editor's Note. Mr.

Jiang described what he had seen when he first entered Beijing:

"The train drove straight into the Qianmen Gate Railway

Station. When I got off, I looked up at Jian Lou (Arrow Tower)

for quite some time. Then I had a bowl of bean curd at a little

food stall. Suddenly several little beggars, dressed in tatters,

came up to me, stretching out their hands for help." Great! My

book could start by following Mr. Jiang into Beijing. Among

several hundred photos collected by the publishing house

from many sources, I was able to find a photo of the Arrow

Tower in a sleet storm. The photo had been taken from an

upward angle. Nearby there was a food stall with an awning

over it. Perfect! It was just my day.

In recent years, I have made a study of both Peking opera

and well-known commercial establishments, and from this, my

interest has grown to all aspects of local culture in Beijing. I

have published more than thirty books about this subject. As

for this particular book, my first plan for it was not realizable.

[t was the format that included a combination of both words

and pictures that forced me to blaze a new trail. I have also

come to recognize that pictures and words supplement each

other in a publication, and that is why books of this sort are so

popular today. Readers love the smooth and easy reading of

such books. As life rhythm quickens, many persons have no

time for profound reading. This poses a new challenge to

both writers and their literary works. It hampers writers from

going into the depths of their subject, not to mention the fact

that it does not allow them to let out all that is in their minds.

Shortly after completing the book, the editor posted the

galley proofs to me. When I read them, I was pleasantly sur-

prised to find that the book had become more interesting after

the commissioning editor added "branches and leaves" through

illustrations. Though a book with illustrations might limit a

writer to a certain extent, you must admit that it becomes more

readable. No wonder the commissioning editor assured me

that this book would arouse great interest among publishers

and the reading public. Perhaps they have both a theoretical

and a practical basis. I, too, wish them success.

Xu Chengbei

Beijing, September 1998