Wenjin Street in Beijing

Beijing Wenjin Street

Wenjin Street is not long, but it is quite famous. It is located to the west of Beihai Park and adjacent to Fuyou Street. It is well-known because it is home to the historic Beijing Library; the name "Wenjin" is also directly related to this library.

The Beijing Library is the largest and most comprehensive library in China. Its predecessor was the Metropolitan Library established in the late Qing Dynasty. The Metropolitan Library once received the collection from the "Wenyuan Pavilion," the imperial library of the Ming Dynasty from 500 years ago, some of which can be traced back to the "Jixi Hall" collection of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 13th century. It is said that the Beijing Library houses over 200,000 rare and ancient books, mainly including Buddhist scriptures, printed books from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Yongle Encyclopedia compiled in the early Ming Dynasty, and the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries compiled during the Qing Dynasty.

Wenjin Street

The Complete Library of the Four Treasuries is the largest series of books compiled during the Qing Dynasty under Emperor Qianlong, taking 16 years to collect, compile, and transcribe. The entire collection includes over 79,000 volumes, 36,300 books, and more than 990 million characters. At the time, seven copies were handwritten, each stored in different locations: the Wenyuan Pavilion in the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Wenjin Pavilion in the Old Summer Palace in Yuanmingyuan, the Wensu Pavilion in the Mukden (Shenyang) Imperial Palace, the Wenjin Pavilion in the Mountain Resort in Rehe, the Wenhui Pavilion in the Daguantang in Yangzhou, the Wenzong Pavilion in the Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang, and the Wanlan Pavilion in the Shengyin Temple in Hangzhou. Three of these seven copies were destroyed by fire. The Wenyuan Pavilion copy was burned during the looting of the Old Summer Palace by the Eight-Nation Alliance; the Wenhui and Wenzong Pavilion copies were destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion. Currently, four copies remain, with one from the Wenjin Pavilion being moved to Beijing in 1915.

The Beijing Library opened in 1912. Its original location was in the Guanghua Temple at Shichahai, later moving to Pinglunjia Hutong, and then relocating to the west side of Beihai Park in 1931. When the current Beijing Library building was being planned in 1928, the street in front of the library had no name. Since the library housed the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, which was originally stored in the "Wenjin Pavilion," the street was named "Wenjin Street" after the word "Wenjin."

After the liberation, to accommodate the needs of traffic development while maintaining the original appearance, the bridge deck was widened to 34 meters, the bridge body was extended from seven arches to nine, and the slope of the bridge deck was reduced by 2%. The stone railings of the approach bridge retained the same design and patterns as before, remaining symmetrical and elegant. Unfortunately, during the "Ten Years of Turmoil," the original jade railings were removed and replaced with towering iron fences, giving an oppressive feeling. Whenever passing over this bridge, one often recalls those terrifying days. Some have suggested removing the iron fences and restoring the original stone railings to bring back the bridge’s former beauty.

Scenic Spot Location

Wenjin Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development