Everything about The Beijing Legation Quarter totally explained
The
Beijing Legation Quarter was the area in
Beijing where a number of foreign
legations were located between 1861 and 1959. In Chinese, the area is known as
Dōng jiāomín xiàng (東交民巷), which is the name of the
hutong (lane or small street) running through the area. It is located immediately to the east of
Tiananmen Square.
Origins
In the
Yuan Dynasty,
Dong jiaomin xiang was the location of the tax office and customs authorities, because of its proximity to the river port by which
rice and grains arrived in
Beijing from
the south. In the
Ming Dynasty, a number of ministeries moved into the area, including the Ministry of Rites, which was in charge of diplomatic matters. Several hostels were built for tributary missions from
Vietnam,
Mongolia,
Korea and
Burma.
Legation quarter
Following China's defeat in the
Second Opium War in 1856-60, the
Zongli Yamen was established as a foreign office of the
Qing and the area around
Dong jiaomin xiang was opened for a number of foreign legations.
The foreign legations were originally scattered close to the Qing imperial government in the southern part of Beijing's old inner city, just west of
Tian'anmen Square and north of
Qianmen and
Chongwenmen. During the
Boxer rebellion in 1900, the Legation Quarter became the center of an international incident as it was besieged by boxers for several months. After the siege had been broken by the
Eight-Nation Alliance, the foreign powers obtained the right to station troops to protect their legations under the terms of the
Boxer Protocol. The Legation Quarter was encircled by a wall and all Chinese residents in the area were ordered to move out. Sealed off from its immediate environment, the Legation Quarter became a city within the city exclusively for foreigners and many Chinese nationalists resented the Quarter as a symbol of foreign aggression.
In
1937, upon the eruption of the
Second Sino-Japanese War, most foreign legations, apart from those of the
Axis Powers, quit
Beijing. The Legation Quarter was then officially handed back to the
Republic of China government.
Under the People's Republic
At the time of the establishment of the
People's Republic of China (1949), a number of foreign legations were still situated here, but after 1959 foreign missions were moved to
Sanlitun outside the old
city walls.
At present, some buildings from the Legation Quarter period survive. However, the area suffered much vandalism during the
Cultural Revolution. More damage was inflicted since the
1980s due to Beijing's redevelopment. Several buildings, such as the former
HSBC building, were demolished for road expansion. Some buildings are occupied by government institutions. A number of modern high-rise buildings have also been built, dramatically changing the area's streetscape. Nevertheless, as Beijing's most significant collection of Western-style buildings, the area is a tourist destination and is protected by municipal artefact preservation orders.
Further Information
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