清末民初是中国社会的变革时期，传统社会的各个方面受到了前所未有的挑战。本文选取北京八大胡同娼妓业这一视角，以小见大，探讨这一时期社会的变化以及人们的心理状态。本文力求准确地界定八大胡同的内涵，通过解读民国著述、档案资料等史料，考察其兴起的原因及特点。这一时期，随着中国社会向现代化的日益发展，社会传统价值观念渐趋改变，实利之风日益盛行，而妓女也逐渐丧失了过去那种“艺妓”的性质；从另一角度来看，上层文人对妓女品第的强调和对往昔“诗意”的怀念，实质上是对往昔社会氛围的追思，这种心理也揭示出了人们对充斥着低级趣味的“现代性”的担忧和抗拒。

China experienced tremendous changes during the late Qing dynasty and the early republic of China, and the traditional society suffered unprecedented challenges. This paper tries to explore the changes of society and the state of people’s psychology from the view of Beijing’s prostitution of Well-known Eight Hutongs. This paper defines the Well-known Eight Hutongs as precise as possible, and explores the causes of its emergence and characteristics through analyzing the writings and archives at that time. As the modernity developed increasingly, the traditional values changed and the air of utilitarian-seeking wide spread. Meanwhile the elegant and artistic quality of prostitutes also vanished gradually. On the other hand, many literati’s emphasizing the prostitutes’ high quality and cherishing the “poetic” revealed the sentiment of missing the atmosphere of past society. This kind of state of mind also reflected their apprehension and resisting to the modernity which is full of the vulgar tastes.