One year, the town suffered a severe drought and most of the wells almost dried up. However, the chieftain's well still had abundant fresh, sweet water. So he asked the old doorkeeper to guard the well, and allow nobody to fetch water. But the old man was so kindhearted that he always secretly helped the poor who desperately needed water.
Later, the chieftain found out about this and was furious. However, the doorkeeper stood up to him and said, "My lord, I help those in need, which runs counter to your instructions. But look at it this way: If all the people were dying of thirst, nobody would work for you. However, if you don't agree with me, then I will not allow anyone to fetch water from now on." The chieftain had no choice but to give in.
Afterwards, more and more people came here for water; even those living a long way away. Therefore, the reputation of "Wangfujing" (maybe in parentheses explain what Wangfujing means in Chinese) was spread far and wide, and became the name of the place. From then on, when mentioning this area, people would call it north, south, east, and west Wangfujing.
History of Wangfujing
Situated just a few blocks east of theForbidden City, Wangfujing came into being in theYuan Dynasty(1271-1368) more than 700 years ago and is said to have received its name in theMing Dynasty(1368-1644) more than 500 years ago.
It was a favorite residential neighborhood of the rich and the royals during the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It was said that the emperor wanted all 10 of his brothers to build their mansions in the place now known as Wangfujing so as to make it easy for him to keep a wary eye on them for fear that they might pose a direct threat to him. Therefore, the street was then named Shiwangfu, meaning mansions for 10 imperial brothers.
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