Title

Dust in the Wind and Smell of the Road: The Living Environment of the Imperial Beijing Though the Eyes of the Literati, 1403-1911

Author

Chung-lin Chiu

Genre

Article  

Pages

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Key words

Beijing, dust, road, smell, public health, memory

Abstract

   This study aims to discuss the kinds of impressions and memories left on the literati by the living environment of Imperial Beijing. There are three topics involved—dust, road and smell.

    Beijing, the capital of Ming and Qing Dynasty, contains the grand city walls, magnificent palaces, spectacular offices of bureaucracy, prosperous street, and numerous populations. However, Beijing has problems in severe environmental hygiene. Life in Imperial Beijing is full of dust in the wind, excrement on the street, muddy and scraggy roads, and horrible smells in the air. For such a living environment the literati from the south left with many record that mostly reveal negative memories. However, these records also give us the above-mentioned profile of the city and show us the memories passed away. For example, the denizens of Beijing cover themselves with a veil outdoors to defend against the sand encroaching upon their eyes; the authorities of the Qing dynasty designated of specific personnel to spill the street with water to reduce the dusty conditions. On the other hand, the literati produced another special diagram representing people(male mainly) squating down all the time on both sides of the street. This diagram results from the lack of toilets in Beijing residences. As for the street, it’s very difficult to describe the conditions. In addition to various smells, the ashes and bits of coal that residents dump every day also accumulate on the streets. Thus , a serious draining problem occurred with the streets accumulatings garbage higher than the residences on both sides. In order to solve the draining problem, the authorities of the Ming and Qing Dynasty dug ditch in the late spring every year. However, the mud digging from the ditch caused traffic problems on the streets. Because the environmental problems could not be improved, and the natural milieu was inferior to that of the south, many literati came with expectation but left with disappointment.