Century-Old Qinghuayuan Station Finial"Hanging Fish" Reveals Its True Appearance
Pictured is the finial “hanging-fish” of the Qinghuayuan old station building, which has seen the light of day once again; it is a signature decoration of Jingzhang Railway buildings.
October 17, 2018, Legal Evening News, Page 07
October 17, 2018, Legal Evening News Legal Evening News (Reporter Cui Yifei) Inside the Qinghuayuan railway residential area in Haidian District, a dilapidated old building survives—this is the 108-year-old Qinghuayuan Station of the Jingzhang Railway. The old station building, which had lost its original function, was almost surrounded by unauthorized private structures and additions. Recently, as some redundant buildings were dismantled, the classic hanging-fish decoration of the old station building was able to see the light of day once again. Qinghuayuan Station was built in 1910. In the 1980s, after the old station building serving as the freight office was abandoned, it was used as railway staff dormitories. Two-fifths of the northern side of the old station building had been demolished, and various unauthorized additions had almost surrounded the remaining old station building. Recently, railway enthusiast Mr. Chen discovered that the single-story house on the western side of the old station building was demolished, and the gable wall facing west on the southern side consequently reappeared. To Mr. Chen's surprise, the "hanging-fish" decoration in the middle of the bargeboard actually survived to this day; this is a landmark decorative object of the Jingzhang Railway. Previously, the hanging-fish had always been sealed away by unauthorized structures. Legal Evening News (WeChat ID: fzwb_52165216) reporters saw at the scene that the hanging-fish on the northwest side of the old station building no longer exists, leaving only the southwest side; although the wood shows cracking phenomena, the overall shape remains intact. In addition, the central station plaque of Qinghuayuan Station still survives, and the handwriting by Jeme Tien Yau remains clearly legible. The old building is currently a census-registered cultural relic of Haidian District, but residents still live here. It is understood that auxiliary buildings along the Jingzhang Railway route were mostly decorated with hanging-fish, becoming a signature decorative object of the old Jingzhang, but very few have survived to this day. According to records in the Illustrated Dictionary of Chinese Architecture, the hanging-fish is an architectural decorative element mostly carved from wooden boards; because it was originally shaped like a fish and suspended from the top of the gable surface, it is called a "hanging-fish." The hanging-fish is located under the bargeboard on the gable ends of a xuanshan (hanging-mountain) or xieshan (rest-mountain) style building, hanging vertically below the main ridge.
Text and Photos by Reporter Cui Yifei Tip-off Provider: Mr. Chen
