A sentimental retelling of Quanjude’s 10 years between life and death
When Peking duck is mentioned, almost no one in China fails to think of Quanjude, Beijing’s most famous roast duck restaurant and one of the city’s oldest surviving brands. For more than a century, its signboard bore witness to prosperity — and later to absurdity. During the fevered years of the Cultural Revolution, this storied restaurant was seized by the Red Guards. Its old plaque was smashed to pieces under wooden hammers, replaced with blood-red slogans and portraits of Mao Zedong.
Through the memories of a firsthand participant — a former Red Guard — we can now look back and see how Quanjude was drawn, step-by-step, into that national frenzy.
The story behind the signboard
The year was 1864, the third year of the Tongzhi Emperor’s reign. Outside Beijing’s Qianmen Gate, Meat Market Street buzzed with voices and commerce.
A tall, slender young man named Yang Quanren moved through the crowd, balancing shoulder poles. He was from Jizhou in Hebei Province, and after floods destroyed his hometown, he fled to Beijing at the age of 15 to make a living. At first, he sold live chickens and ducks. Life was hard, but he was diligent, and over time, he managed to save a little money.
Each day, he passed a dried-goods shop called De Ju Quan. Its signboard was bright, but business was bleak, with dust gathering by the wooden door. Yang took note. At 45, he finally used his life savings to buy the shop. Since he knew poultry well, he decided to sell hang-roasted duck and roasted meats.
Before opening, Yang invited a feng shui master. After circling the shop twice, the old man stroked his beard and said: “This is a blessed site. The two alleyways beside it are like sedan poles. One day, if a building rises here, it will be like an eight-bearer sedan chair — your future will be limitless.”
But he added: “The shop’s former name carries ill fortune. Reverse the characters De Ju Quan to become Quan Ju De, and the bad luck will be dispelled.”
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