On November 18, 2004, the news of the reopening of Deshoutang South was published in newspapers in Beijing. The most eye-catching content in the article was undoubtedly "The little train started again 70 years ago" class statements. The so-called little train here is a big "cover" created by Kang Boqing, the founder of Deshoutang, to attract business. This old medicine man who is good at marketing has set up many "covers" in his life. According to his son Kang Yanxia's recollection in the article "I Recall De Shou Hall", "At that time (in the 1920s), the stage curtains of Qingle, Sanqing, Lehua, Kaiming and other theaters were all embroidered with the words "Deshou" The words "Tang's secret bezoar detoxification pills" were printed on the walls; in various small theaters in the Tianqiao, there were also specially made Kang's advertisements... Later, even the advertisements were hung on the trams. "It can be said that Kang's Niuhuang Jiedu Pills, created by a younger generation, were as famous as Changchundang's Biwen Powder. In addition to the excellent efficacy of the pills themselves, the successful advertising and promotion was unparalleled.

The entire Nanhao is just a big "front"

Deshou Tang is located at the south entrance of Shaanxi Lane, one of the eight old alleys. After the completion of Guang'an Street, the old drug store appeared alone among the surrounding modern buildings; however, Because of this, its antique architectural style is even more eye-catching: on the facade, the plaque "Tongzhenshouyu, ***Jianchuntai" has been repainted and has a new look. Wholesale of cooked medicinal materials, clean decoction pieces, and Zungu processed pills, powders, ointments, and pills.” Remembering the busy days, the Deshoutang Jihe trademark on the outside of the second floor is also eye-catching. Such a scene is similar to Yuan Ziyou, the old shopkeeper of the drugstore. It is no different from what is described in "Flower Market Street": "The signs tower into the sky, and the neon lights flash at night, eye-catching."

Looking up from the balcony on the second floor, there is a huge Western wall clock. and two culverts on the left and right. In 1934, when the Nan No. 1 opened, Kang Boqing ordered people to lay a circular track here and customized a fuel-driven simulated train that ran on the hour to shuttle back and forth between the two culverts. 70 years ago, when trains were not yet popular, the simulated train "made a sensation throughout the city, with huge crowds of spectators and traffic jams" (Excerpted from "Flower Market Street")

The time came. Today, the performance that was a sensation in the capital is still being performed, but the hearts of viewers have long since turned from early adopters to nostalgia. In order to facilitate interviews, Gao Xuewu, the deputy manager of Deshoutang, specially led reporters upstairs and turned on the small train button. The debris after the snow affected the conductivity of the track, and the train ran intermittently and did not run smoothly. According to Manager Gao, “The original train was lost during the Anti-Japanese War, and the current train is the product of a professional model factory. It is made according to the 1:10 simulation of an old train and costs more than 30,000 yuan. "According to the pharmacy's plan, a few more carriages will be added in the future, so that the train can run at fixed points every day and restore its original appearance.

According to the opinions of time-honored experts such as Wang Yongbin, Western architectural styles and Chinese decorative themes will be combined The two-in-one Deoksugou Hall “looks like a three-dimensional facade from the outside. "It makes full use of the spatial structure of the exterior wall facade and builds a publicity platform with "illustrations, text, and sounds". Even today, Kang's innovative move is still worthy of praise.

< p>The key to success for common people and innovative Laotang brands

In the office in the backyard of Deshoutang, the current manager Zhao Huijie carefully took out a long-cherished early drug price list of Deshoutang. It has been damaged and turned yellow, but after just browsing for a while, you can sort out the key to Kang's success in those years. The preface reads: "The only way to save the world is medicine; to cure diseases, we must rely on medicine... all kinds of things." All the fine medicinal materials are carefully selected and processed in accordance with ancient times...the prescriptions are genuine, the medicines are real medicines, the heart is sincere, and the prices are genuine. "The words are sincere, covering Deshoutang's business philosophy of focusing on quality, efficacy, and integrity. "Tongrentang is taking the road of royal medicine, and Deshoutang's market is among the people. "Manager Zhao told reporters that the founder Kang Boxing was poor in his early years. He relied on the pill-making technology learned from Xidan Huairen Hall to make homemade black tiger pills, Qizhen pills, stick eye pills and other small medicines, and sold the patent medicines through the shop. Kang's deeply Knowing that their own small medicines cannot compete with the big pharmacies in big cities, and that the rural mountain people who lack medical treatment and medicine have a poor diet and eat fire, they need small and cheap medicines, so they regard small merchants in towns and villages as their main sales targets. As expected, the goods were immediately available. At the same time, Kang's adhered to the principle of "prices are very low and wholesale is extremely light, and it is not for profit, so as to sell well", and pioneered the wholesale business of Chinese patent medicines, selling medicines to various domestic commercial ports and even countries in Southeast Asia.

Deshou Tang’s success should also be attributed to Kang Boxing’s keen innovation. When Kang was still alive, he often said: "Since ancient times, all progressive new medicines in Chinese patent medicines have been improved based on ancient prescriptions." Deshoutang made medicines in accordance with 1171 formulas issued by the Beijing Chinese Medicine Chamber of Commerce, among which the innovative pills and powders were developed There are more than 200 kinds of pills; among them, "Kang's Niuhuang Jiedu Pills", which Deshoutang is proud of, is Kang's masterpiece after adding menthol to the original formula. The flavoring effect of realgar odor in pills. After the new medicine came out, it quickly became a household name due to its unique formula and remarkable efficacy, and Deshoutang became famous in the capital.

The old drug store emerged from serious illness

Although it has long bid farewell to the business model of a front store and a factory in the back, Deshoutang still retains the two-story attic in the front store and the second courtyard in the back. Shape. Manager Zhao Huijie’s office is located in the main room of Erjinyuan. When she first entered Deshoutang 30 years ago, it was still a production workshop for making pills. Today, Kang's blue and white porcelain vases that contained raw materials are displayed in an orderly manner in the bookcase, and the tradition of the time-honored brand continues to this day. According to Zhao, "In order to avoid taboos, employees do not say 'hello' when greeting customers, but only say 'what medicine do you want', and do not say 'goodbye' when seeing customers off, but only say 'walk slowly'."

There is a framed picture in regular script hanging on the side wall of the office that reads, "With medicine, thousands of illnesses will be far away; without disease, the body will be light." This pairing is very appropriate for Deokshou Hall, which was only renovated three months ago: 2000 In 2003, when the Guang'an Street project was laying underground pipelines, the old building was overwhelmed and suffered settlement and wall cracking. The overall structure was on the verge of instability and the pharmacy was forced to close. Fortunately, the cultural relics department invested 2 million yuan in timely repairs in 2003, and the old building was able to repair it in time. It was the drug store that saved the day. In that year, Deshou Hall was listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Beijing. According to Zhao Huijie, "Even during the four years when the old drugstore closed down, the operation of Deshoutang has not stopped. We rented a store on Yong'an Road to continue selling medicine." After moving back to the renovated original location, due to municipal-level Due to the particularity of the cultural protection unit, a rice cooker was used instead of gas when decoction for customers to prevent open fire. During the interview, Zhao Huijie also ran to the decoction room to check the heat. According to the store's quotation, each dose of medicine was charged 0.8 yuan. In the patio medicine garden, the fragrance of medicine overflows.

The corridor in the second-story pavilion of the front store is now empty. Zhao Huijie said, "This is only temporary. We plan to open a traditional Chinese medicine history and culture exhibition here to display the physical objects and pharmaceutical tools of time-honored pharmacies, and also do something for the traditional Chinese medicine culture." Obviously, Deshoutang is not "re-hanging the old plaque." The combination of old and new is itself an authentic "real object". For tourists who yearn for "Mansion Gate", this is a place where dreams come true.

Let the "living specimens" of traditional culture no longer be lonely

Due to the existence of many cultural relics and ancient buildings, whenever roads are widened or new roads are built in the Second Ring Road, "give way to the road" The debate between "" and "detour" is inevitable. Six years ago, on the eve of the start of the Guang'an Street project, Wang Jiang, the son-in-law of the Kang family of Deshoutang, took a family photo in front of the old drugstore left by his ancestors with his family as a commemoration; according to previous news, the old man of his ancestors The shop is nearly 20 meters deep into the planned red line and faces the fate of being demolished.

What makes Wang Jiang relieved is that the frozen image is not farewell. The medicinal fragrance wafting from the old shop still permeates the newly renovated street. From Hufang Bridge to Zhushikou, Guang'an Street "condescended" to turn a corner southward, saving Deshou Hall at the last moment, as well as the "neighbors" Ji Xiaolan's former residence and Jinghua Printing and Publishing House - if calculated in terms of project costs, This bend will cost tens of millions more.

The surviving Deshoutang South Store was a new property purchased by Kang Boqing, the founder of the pharmacy, in 1934. At this time, many old stores in the south of the city, such as Tongrentang, Changchun Hall, and Qianzhitang, had already prospered. century. However, after undergoing changes, relocations, withdrawals and demolitions again and again, although many time-honored brands still have golden plaques and ancient family mottos, the original buildings themselves have been missing or completely destroyed. In 1992, Qianzhitang was After being demolished for the reconstruction of Chongwai Street, the South No. of Deshou Tang, which had only existed for 70 years, competed to become the "only copy" of Beijing's time-honored pharmacy that maintains its original historical appearance. According to Wang Yongbin, an expert on Beijing history, even if we look at the whole of Beijing’s time-honored brands, there are only a handful of them such as Liubiju and Deshoutang that “remain the same”. Taking into account the "living specimen" function of time-honored brands in inheriting traditional culture, the expensive curve of Liangguang Street is like the track train running again after the renovation of Deshoutang, which is the finishing touch.

Furthermore, I can’t help but think that the practical significance of the preservation and restoration of an old Deshou Hall may be extended to the restoration and reconstruction of the cultural landscape and humanistic temperament of old Beijing. According to the "Beijing Dashilar Area Protection, Renovation and Development Plan", Dashilar will renovate 43 old shops such as Hengdeli Watch Shop, renovate and restore 17 historical and cultural attractions such as Zhengyi Temple, and strive to restore the historical style; construction has already started The Meishi street widening project has the same twists and turns, trying to avoid important historical relics and valuable ancient buildings, and truly use traditional space to create a characteristic business model of old Beijing.

Whether you have a glimpse or stop to watch, the renovated Deokshou Hall now stands in front of the bustling Guang'an Street. The large clock in the clock tower on the top floor has already begun to imagine the new era. It can be expected that when the chaos and chaos are gradually stripped away and the historical features of Dashilar become clearer, this time-honored drug store will no longer be so out of place and truly dream of returning to Beijing.