On the 7th day of the 5th month in the 25th year of the Guangxu era (June 14, 1899), an explosion occurred at the munitions depot in Shibei Hutong, Beijing, resulting in heavy casualties. “Shibei Hutong” was the name used during the Ming Dynasty, and to avoid confusion with the Shibei Hutong south of Xichang’an Street, it was renamed “Yude Hutong” in 1965. It is now situated in the central part of Beijing’s Xicheng District.
According to the Qing Dynasty ancient text Miscellaneous Notes of the Capital, on the 7th day of the 5th month in the 25th year of Guangxu, a fire broke out at the Shibei Hutong arsenal, leading to an explosion at the munitions depot. It was only 9:00 a.m. at the time. The entire western part of Beijing felt a huge tremor, like an earthquake; “buildings shook and collapsed, factory buildings were blown away, and huge craters appeared in the ground.” The nunnery, meditation rooms, and kitchen to the right were all completely destroyed, except for the Buddhist temple, which remained intact.
Numerous houses were destroyed, and many people were injured or killed. The relevant authorities, under imperial orders to investigate, deceived the court by claiming only six people had died, while in reality, the number was much higher. On that day, “body parts fell from the sky, and cannonballs landed on rooftops. It was the day of the Huguo Temple market, and all the glazed pottery was shattered.” Fortunately, the guards at the munitions depot were out having breakfast at the time, so many were unharmed. The area around the factory suffered greatly, with numerous deaths and injuries, so why did so many factory guards survive? The apparent reason is that they happened to be out eating at that time, but what was the real reason?
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