Hutong Gossip

《醒世画报》Xingshi Huabao was established in 1909, but only existed for around half a year. It was located in the Dashilar area and reported numerous stories from brothels and opium dens in a gossipy, sensationalist yet not very openly political way. That said many stories are about the new liberalized role of women. Sometimes the magazine would moralize or criticize certain aspects of society, but the reporting seems to really only have one consistent aim: to entertain the reader. The stories were very simple written in spoken language meant to satisfy peoples curiosity. Today the small straight forward stories gives a fascinating glimpse in to life in the Hutongs just a couple of years before the Qing dynasty fell. Curiously enough none of the stories concern the Imperial court. Instead favorite topics were the prostitutes of the Bada Hutong, opium dens, indecent behavior, gambling etc.

Is this what we understand with equal rights?

Outside Shunzhimen (Xuanwumen) at Haibeisijie (Haibei Hutong) there was a young woman named Wang that often spoke to her husband about equal rights between man and woman. One night she did not return, and when she came back her husband asked where she had been. She got angry and answered that: “Now there are equal rights between man woman and I will not submit to your will. I will do as I want”. This behavior is shameless and can not be labelled as “equal rights”

Fish eyes among pearls (Chinese saying meaning: fake)

On the nineteenth after noon, Wangguangfu xiejie (Zongshu Xiejie) two prostitutes were dressed up like intellectuals (civilized) wearing leather boots and golden rimmed glasses and there were flowers in front of their clothes, looking very much like students. Chinese people are wearing clothes without any concerns all wearing both men and women‘s clothes.

Very Beautiful

This month on the seventeenth at twelve o’clock, Xiaoli Shamao Hutong. Suddenly there was a fragrant smell in the air and a person came by. If you looked closely you could see that it was a man. He had long hair at the front of his head like a woman and his face was powdered. His clothes was very beautiful. These are very competitive times, it is not only women prostitutes that will dress like this. If this had happened at Hanjia Tan (a Hutong in the old red light district), then it would not have been surprising and it would not be worth mentioning.