立德樂洋行 重慶開埠史上的見證

龍曉

隱藏在南岸區南濱路繁華夜景深處，隱約在茂密樹林中的中西合璧的建筑群，曾是重慶最早的“洋人街”。1891年重慶開埠之后，無數的外商遠渡重洋，來此建造起繁忙的國際貿易市場。在這臨江碼頭又鬧中取靜的地方，立德樂洋行就見證著重慶開埠百年歷史。

1883年，英國商人、冒險家阿奇博爾德·約翰·立德樂（Archibald John Little）乘小帆船溯長江而上，歷時40天，成為第一批抵達重慶的歐洲人之一。

1890年，中英簽訂《新訂煙臺條約續增專條》，重慶開為商埠。次年海關成立，重慶正式開埠，成為中國第一個對外貿易的內陸通商口岸。1891年，立德樂在重慶下半城陜西街開辦起重慶歷史上第一家洋行，名為“立德樂洋行”，主要經營豬鬢洗制、山貨加工和舶來洋貨等進出口貿易。1895年，立德樂將南岸龍門浩一帶的普善巷、新碼頭、馬鞍山、瓦廠灣等，俗稱“九灣十八堡”連峘數里的土地，以“永租”的方式買下。1896年，立德樂逐漸將主要業務轉移至南岸馬鞍山，開設“立德樂洋行”，經營四川土特產和外國舶來品。

1898年，立德樂駕駛“利川號”，途中歷經險灘暗礁，船工搶險……終由宜昌溯行長江，抵達重慶。這是重慶人見到的第一艘機動船。川江輪船航線由此打開，外國商船接踵而至，洋行、教堂興建，中西貿易往來頻繁，南岸一帶成為熱鬧繁華之地。

此去上百年的歲月中，立德樂洋行被幾經轉手，還在20世紀50年代遭遇一場大火。加上此后幾十年間的變遷，當年規模宏大的建筑群，現僅存遺址含山門、倉庫及3棟別墅建筑。2009年12月15日，立德樂洋行舊址被列為第二批重慶市文物保護單位。

據了解，立德樂洋行舊址主樓共有3層，背山面水，坐南向北，建筑面積約600平方米，屋面是中式重檐斜山式屋頂，“如意式”寶頂，西式的壁爐煙囪。上下樓采用螺旋形木質樓梯連接，室內裝飾部分中西元素有機融合，西式木門窗、石壁爐、西式抹灰線腳，拱形門券，輔以“冰裂紋鎏金木隔斷”“白菜灰塑燈盤”“綠釉卷草龍紋鏤空欄桿”“雕花木撐拱”等中式元素。站在主樓一、二層，都可以觀看到長江、碼頭等。

輔樓建筑面積約90平方米，與主樓的二層由一架空曲廊連接。穿斗木結構，帶前廊，四坡水小青瓦屋面，室內現為三合土地面，裝飾簡單質樸。房屋門前是魚池假山、花臺盆景，屋后花園里的一棵百年銀杏，枝繁葉茂，高大挺拔。倉庫建筑坐東向西，兩樓一底磚木結構，通高18米，建筑面積1200米。洋行大門為石質重檐牌樓式仿古建筑，通高4.6米，寬3.6米，門前如意式踏道4級。整體建筑雅致而別具特色。

百年之后，循著歷史的脈絡，南濱路立德樂洋行舊址建筑群，將建設成為重慶開埠文化遺址公園，包括博物館、公園、慢享街區三大版塊。這些百年建筑將在這里開啟新的想象，歷史、文化、生活、時尚將交匯出新的樂章。

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.