立德乐洋行 重庆开埠史上的见证

龙晓

隐藏在南岸区南滨路繁华夜景深处，隐约在茂密树林中的中西合璧的建筑群，曾是重庆最早的“洋人街”。1891年重庆开埠之后，无数的外商远渡重洋，来此建造起繁忙的国际贸易市场。在这临江码头又闹中取静的地方，立德乐洋行就见证着重庆开埠百年历史。

1883年，英国商人、冒险家阿奇博尔德·约翰·立德乐（Archibald John Little）乘小帆船溯长江而上，历时40天，成为第一批抵达重庆的欧洲人之一。

1890年，中英签订《新订烟台条约续增专条》，重庆开为商埠。次年海关成立，重庆正式开埠，成为中国第一个对外贸易的内陆通商口岸。1891年，立德乐在重庆下半城陕西街开办起重庆历史上第一家洋行，名为“立德乐洋行”，主要经营猪鬓洗制、山货加工和舶来洋货等进出口贸易。1895年，立德乐将南岸龙门浩一带的普善巷、新码头、马鞍山、瓦厂湾等，俗称“九湾十八堡”连峘数里的土地，以“永租”的方式买下。1896年，立德乐逐渐将主要业务转移至南岸马鞍山，开设“立德乐洋行”，经营四川土特产和外国舶来品。

1898年，立德樂驾驶“利川号”，途中历经险滩暗礁，船工抢险……终由宜昌溯行长江，抵达重庆。这是重庆人见到的第一艘机动船。川江轮船航线由此打开，外国商船接踵而至，洋行、教堂兴建，中西贸易往来频繁，南岸一带成为热闹繁华之地。

此去上百年的岁月中，立德乐洋行被几经转手，还在20世纪50年代遭遇一场大火。加上此后几十年间的变迁，当年规模宏大的建筑群，现仅存遗址含山门、仓库及3栋别墅建筑。2009年12月15日，立德乐洋行旧址被列为第二批重庆市文物保护单位。

据了解，立德乐洋行旧址主楼共有3层，背山面水，坐南向北，建筑面积约600平方米，屋面是中式重檐斜山式屋顶，“如意式”宝顶，西式的壁炉烟囱。上下楼采用螺旋形木质楼梯连接，室内装饰部分中西元素有机融合，西式木门窗、石壁炉、西式抹灰线脚，拱形门券，辅以“冰裂纹鎏金木隔断”“白菜灰塑灯盘”“绿釉卷草龙纹镂空栏杆”“雕花木撑拱”等中式元素。站在主楼一、二层，都可以观看到长江、码头等。

辅楼建筑面积约90平方米，与主楼的二层由一架空曲廊连接。穿斗木结构，带前廊，四坡水小青瓦屋面，室内现为三合土地面，装饰简单质朴。房屋门前是鱼池假山、花台盆景，屋后花园里的一棵百年银杏，枝繁叶茂，高大挺拔。仓库建筑坐东向西，两楼一底砖木结构，通高18米，建筑面积1200米。洋行大门为石质重檐牌楼式仿古建筑，通高4.6米，宽3.6米，门前如意式踏道4级。整体建筑雅致而别具特色。

百年之后，循着历史的脉络，南滨路立德乐洋行旧址建筑群，将建设成为重庆开埠文化遗址公园，包括博物馆、公园、慢享街区三大版块。这些百年建筑将在这里开启新的想象，历史、文化、生活、时尚将交汇出新的乐章。

Tucked away in the bustling night view and lush trees of Nanbin Road in Nan'an District， building clusters with a combination of Chinese and Western styles were the earliest "Foreigner Street" in Chongqing. After Chongqing's port opening in 1891， countless foreign merchants came here and built a hectic international trade market. Located in the noisy-yet-quiet riverside port， Little Foreign Firm witnessed the century-old history of Chongqing's port opening.

In 1883， Archibald John Little， a British merchant and adventurer， sailed up the Yangtze River in a small yacht for 40 days， becoming one of the first Europeans to arrive in Chongqing.

In 1890， after the signing of China-British Special Amendment to the Chefoo Convention， Chongqing was opened as a commercial port. Chongqing Customs was set up in the next year， which indicated the official port opening of Chongqing and made the city the first hinterland trading port for foreign trade in China. In 1891， Mr. Little established the first foreign firm in Chongqing history， namely "Little Foreign Firm"， in Shaanxi street， the lower half of the city. The firm was mainly engaged in pig bristle washing and production， mountain goods processing， imported foreign goods and other import and export trade. In 1895， Mr. Little bought the land in Pushan Alley， New Port， Ma'anshan， Wa Chang Wan， etc.， commonly known as "Nine Bays and Eighteen Bunkers" in the Longmenhao area of Nan'an via "permanent lease". In 1896， Mr. Little gradually transferred his main businesses to Ma'anshan of Nan'an， and established "Little Foreign Firm" to sell Sichuan local products and imported foreign products.

In 1898， having gone through dangerous shoals and reefs with salvage by trackers on the way， Mr. Little steered the "Lichuan" from Yichang to the Yangtze River and finally arrived in Chongqing. This was the first steamship that Chongqing dwellers came in sight. Since then， the Chuanjiang steamship route began to operate， with foreign merchant ships flocking in and foreign firms and churches lining up. The route brought frequent trade exchanges between China and the West and added the bustle and hustle of Nan'an area.

In the past century， Little Foreign Firm had been resold for several times， and survived a fire in the 1950s. With the vicissitudes in the following decades， only the mountain gate， the warehouse and three villa buildings of the grand building clusters then were left. On December 15， 2009， the former site of Little Foreign Firm was listed as the second batch of cultural relics protection unit in Chongqing.

It is understood that there are three floors in the main building of the former site of Little Foreign Firm， sitting south to north with the water in the front and mountain in the rear. Covering a construction area of about 600 square meters， it has a Chinese-style double-eaved roof， "ruyi-styled" pagoda top， and a Western-style fireplace chimney. Spiral wooden stairs are adopted to connect two floors. Chinese and Western elements are organically integrated in interior decoration. Western-style wooden doors and windows， stone wall furnace， Western-style plaster moulding， and arched gate are supplemented with Chinese elements such as "ice crack gilding wood partition"， "cabbage grey plastic lamp plate"， "hallow railings decorated by green-glazed floral scrolls" and "carved wood arch". Standing on the first and second floors of the main building， one can look into the Yangtze River and the wharfs from a distance.

The annex building covers an area of about 90 square meters and is connected with the second floor of the main building by an overhead curved corridor. A column-and-tie wooden construction， it has a front porch， a hip-and-valley roof with small grey tiles and interior floor made of tabia， manifesting simple and plain decoration. While front part of the building is embellished with fishpond， rockery， flower terrace and bonsai， an ancient ginkgo tree， lush， tall and straight， stands in the back garden. Facing the west， the warehouse building assumes brick-timber structure with two floors and a ground floor at a height of 18 meters and a construction area of 1，200 meters. The gate of this foreign firm is an antique building with stone double eaves， 4.6 meters high， 3.6 meters wide and 4 steps of ruyi-styled footpath in the front. The entire building is elegant and unique.

After a century， following the historical context， the former site of Little Foreign Firm building clusters in Nanbin Road is going to be built into Chongqing Port Cultural Heritage Park， including three sections of museums， parks and slow-motion street blocks. These hundred-year-old historical buildings will sparkle new imagination here， and compose a new chapter of history， culture， life and fashion.