The term hutong is said to originate from the Mongolian word for “water well”, or the space between tents. Over time it came to describe the narrow alleyways associated with old Beijing. During the fifteenth century, officials and aristocrats lived to the east and west of the Forbidden City in courtyard houses or siheyuan. Some were beautifully decorated and all faced south for better lighting. Houses were built in close proximity to each other, forming a grid of alleyways. Further to the north and south lived commoners and artisans. Their siheyuan were smaller and simpler.
Hutongs were used as part of low level administrative and geographical divisions. At its height during the Ming dynasty Beijing was divided into 36 such wards enclosed by walls and gates which would be closed at night. Individual hutong names were derived from different sources; for example directions, trades, Beijing idioms, markets, temples, and people or places. After the fall of the Qing court in 1911, many new hutongs were built with no apparent plan. Old residences lost their former beauty and the strict social stratifications disintegrated with the conditions.
Following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, all property gradually came to be owned and controlled by the Communist government. Remaining owner-occupiers were forced to share their houses with others or relinquish them all together. Today with the very recent reintroduction of private ownership many of these properties have become prime real estate. Owners being asked to move out are presented with huge compensation packages. In 2004, the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee stated that around 20,000 households were to be demolished. Despite this mass destruction, many old hutongs remain, and the government is beginning to label certain districts as protected zones.