Emily Luo
Memory Homes through Time:
Spatial Memories from Siheyuan to Apartment in Beijing, from 1967 to 2022
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Spatial Memories from Siheyuan to Apartment in Beijing, from 1967 to 2022
From Section 3: Mama’s Hutong and Later Home Locations
Location 1: Siheyuan in Hutong (1970-1973) (Figure 1)
From a broader perspective that considers the whole process of one’s living experience, Blunt and Dowling’s definition of home as a ‘spatial imaginary’ reminds us that home could also be a concept that relates different societal contexts and local environments, as well as different kinds of spaces and places from different time periods. This resonates with the discussion later in Blunt and Dowling’s first chapter of their book, Home, that ‘[r]ather than view the home as a single, stable place where identity is grounded…the complex and politicized interplay of home and identity over space and time’ should also be recognised. (Blunt and Dowling, 2006, p.21) Thus, I argue, home is not only a ‘spatial imaginary’, but rather, a ‘spatio-temporal imaginary’, and it is inevitably related to memory.
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Location 1: Siheyuan in Hutong (1970-1973) (Figure 1).
Jujube trees and water pump
The few memories my mama had of these spaces were mostly related to the outside courtyard where she would spend most of her day. When I asked about what she remembers about the hutong home, the date trees in the courtyard were the first objects she recalled:
Mama: I remember clearly that there was a jujube tree in the yard – no, actually two.
Laoye: There was another jujube tree next door, on the east side of our courtyard, in my friend’s home. The red dates from their tree kept falling into our courtyard and into the urinal sink in the southeast corner. (laugh)
Mama: Every autumn, red dates become ripe and I still remember the smell and taste of them, especially when they are just freshly picked. (Interview 1, 2021)
Soon another structure was then brought up – the water pump beside trees. This is how she described it:
Mama During wintertime, I remember the first thing you [meaning her parents] had to do in the morning is pour boiling water on the pump otherwise it would be frozen and not usable. You would carry the heavy water bucket to the east wall almost every morning. (Interview 1, 2021)
The construction of the first memory home started with the most impressive structure in my mama’s memory and then it expanded to the structure right next to it, which thus constructed a spatial imaginary. In terms of the temporal imaginary, firstly the memory was tied to the specific time period when my mama lived in her first memory home; secondly there was a seasonal dimension mentioned above – that they especially engage with jujube trees in autumn and the frozen water pump in winter.
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Figure 2. Diagram of my mama and Laoye’s imaginary topography and memory trace of my mama’s first memory home.
Figure 2 visualises the imaginary topography and memory trace of my mama and Laoye. Imaginary topography is shown in dark grey with different levels of detail. By memory trace, it means the sequence of how their memory travelled through this old home and constructed the space during the interview. Their memory trace started around trees, one tree and then the other. As the trees were located on two opposite sides of the courtyard, the traces then spanned the whole courtyard. However, not much detail of the space in between was mentioned. The less impressive details were omitted and the next structure recalled was the water pumps which were the nearest structures in the space and were associated with special memories. My mama’s memory home was mainly built around the courtyard while for my laoye, his personal memory engaged with most of the actual space within their home and thus seems more integrated and valid.
Location 1: Siheyuan in Hutong (1970-1973) (Figure 1)
From a broader perspective that considers the whole process of one’s living experience, Blunt and Dowling’s definition of home as a ‘spatial imaginary’ reminds us that home could also be a concept that relates different societal contexts and local environments, as well as different kinds of spaces and places from different time periods. This resonates with the discussion later in Blunt and Dowling’s first chapter of their book, Home, that ‘[r]ather than view the home as a single, stable place where identity is grounded…the complex and politicized interplay of home and identity over space and time’ should also be recognised. (Blunt and Dowling, 2006, p.21) Thus, I argue, home is not only a ‘spatial imaginary’, but rather, a ‘spatio-temporal imaginary’, and it is inevitably related to memory.
Location 1: Siheyuan in Hutong (1970-1973) (Figure 1).
Jujube trees and water pump
The few memories my mama had of these spaces were mostly related to the outside courtyard where she would spend most of her day. When I asked about what she remembers about the hutong home, the date trees in the courtyard were the first objects she recalled:
Mama: I remember clearly that there was a jujube tree in the yard – no, actually two.
Laoye: There was another jujube tree next door, on the east side of our courtyard, in my friend’s home. The red dates from their tree kept falling into our courtyard and into the urinal sink in the southeast corner. (laugh)
Mama: Every autumn, red dates become ripe and I still remember the smell and taste of them, especially when they are just freshly picked. (Interview 1, 2021)
Soon another structure was then brought up – the water pump beside trees. This is how she described it:
Mama During wintertime, I remember the first thing you [meaning her parents] had to do in the morning is pour boiling water on the pump otherwise it would be frozen and not usable. You would carry the heavy water bucket to the east wall almost every morning. (Interview 1, 2021)
The construction of the first memory home started with the most impressive structure in my mama’s memory and then it expanded to the structure right next to it, which thus constructed a spatial imaginary. In terms of the temporal imaginary, firstly the memory was tied to the specific time period when my mama lived in her first memory home; secondly there was a seasonal dimension mentioned above – that they especially engage with jujube trees in autumn and the frozen water pump in winter.
Figure 2. Diagram of my mama and Laoye’s imaginary topography and memory trace of my mama’s first memory home.Figure 2 visualises the imaginary topography and memory trace of my mama and Laoye. Imaginary topography is shown in dark grey with different levels of detail. By memory trace, it means the sequence of how their memory travelled through this old home and constructed the space during the interview. Their memory trace started around trees, one tree and then the other. As the trees were located on two opposite sides of the courtyard, the traces then spanned the whole courtyard. However, not much detail of the space in between was mentioned. The less impressive details were omitted and the next structure recalled was the water pumps which were the nearest structures in the space and were associated with special memories. My mama’s memory home was mainly built around the courtyard while for my laoye, his personal memory engaged with most of the actual space within their home and thus seems more integrated and valid.