UID5538
帖子
阅读权限80
在线时间 小时
精华
威望
日志
相册
注册时间2006-2-27
最后登录1970-1-1
|
The following is a hutong discussion promoted by me on a Chinese history oriented forum:
Me:
As Beijing has been the capital of China for more than 800 years, its
! Y: M h4 @0 S( barchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
5 f% m3 l$ |& u7 r6 ?Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"! f/ @7 A3 x! K/ W1 P$ P' _
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
' R+ ~! i! U5 S L! w/ y \/ W6 JAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 U7 j& Z! p$ }% G8 g j3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of1 ~3 y4 @! }2 N+ m. M" Y, K
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within' N( K& H! ^& M6 N( o' w$ K+ O
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among! |: T" ]3 K% p2 x o
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
% A* u+ o2 E4 z; Z, Hand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
) a. Y6 x2 E7 ^# u( f$ c5 u2 Nharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are3 m/ G$ a) n& u; Y
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
~1 ^" Z! X+ R" oforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I8 S$ u0 X; V) T9 W2 @. o( z1 q
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
2 f. H% `# b6 W# vimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
; s: u( X) B) e p9 o: G# Iand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
( g+ d& ~9 d0 v! s9 n7 Nhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
" O$ Y5 X4 }% w* X* _0 z5 Lof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
1 `8 C h! Z: v9 `( ^5 a& U, Hno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are' D) q; m! @" T m
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
* z9 C+ Y: ?+ B% O4 msort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
D M. ]1 `9 L/ d/ j+ Q, Twant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move* H# Q3 j. f- V- ^) P6 d0 D
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is' I. [- Q. s$ h8 b4 q3 v
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,8 Z! c, d Z) ^, Z
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
& s$ e2 s' R1 gstill living in compact apartment cells, Olympic Games will still be held in Beijing if four-combinations still stand.
Kimchee:
I think it's ashame how historical sights are destroyed due to
/ Z4 T& P/ C7 [; {% v' a& C"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
: Y+ n; K6 o) N, V5 Jmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
' a( r( Y" X& L7 la beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
8 D) a F: J5 b5 x, ~. ~8 \parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across+ G1 h$ R9 A! X" O: F
the street is still there, but I thought it was a crime to do this.
Ashura:
While I do agree and support the perservation of properties of cultural7 H7 B D8 h7 Q6 V/ G1 @" j0 {# O
importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for) N1 z# C) [8 f! [: j
development.
Hutongs
9 Q' }. |- K! u+ q- Z/ hin the old days were residential area where people actually lived$ I5 C, u0 b z! K( ]. t" X
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions8 n0 @5 c" I% s0 Y3 Z: j! M9 I J
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not3 Y- u4 f9 T! K O( @# k- ^
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you9 [3 N: j" } x% f( R9 F% t
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.1 t5 j' `4 Q1 j. U' s: |
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date" a8 T. e: ^0 q' V
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
3 s/ ?6 _# G, t i% N( Y9 H. S, ito hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
. U( x5 p) c, t5 I, K/ Y. Z. r9 w) _support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically' m. M0 C: G& j. g& Y+ o
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
( ^! v! c$ I5 `( {. A* E1 D/ flive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,+ J2 L1 b& s. _
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
9 C3 g! |+ V& [, _, I9 v1 C) S2 ybalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
/ D f5 X* u+ q# p3 Dproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be. A T% f; K/ `5 F1 c
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong- t2 k" n8 A6 g
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
' i& {, I" L4 n5 D, R( Cpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
* ^6 j$ }' ^1 G9 W4 Y; I# Y- storn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished
8 G8 c: ^2 T$ ]% k* }) |memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
7 b6 |+ n( G7 v' ?0 b+ C) a. o% `Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
. D8 M! n$ }( E4 s6 Z. ?; f8 Faligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
% d# J, r% H, U. r. J: Knon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image& a! {! i; @; I) C2 h; Z6 D
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
* y# z- h: P8 X- P2 [9 \4 C- pHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those! l5 X: p; O# Y; C
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they/ d5 {# T$ Q+ y; W
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some4 Z* t- F' {' P$ ^" v
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before# @8 f# e1 V. ]$ T
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all# V0 Z6 ]) {$ f+ Q# X4 q
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise- \& E* A. {3 k/ C! _* I- `- F; G4 G
apartments are the way to go? No.
' Y3 f* X( _& V8 i& P% D
/ Q: a c% l7 d: \3 j }
) y- r$ W [* F7 r! \
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the! G8 x% z+ o2 o2 ` k
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this/ V' c7 j- ? E V3 [1 j4 v& x
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
: z3 p$ a5 H3 L. W: a- w. M% v1 e5 ano money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
0 `5 U8 z* u7 K: j* N9 Jfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant9 k; @1 ^/ H- U2 U' M0 M: ^+ l, L
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
! O4 }" v, a5 x& r2 @2 mBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
* v* I1 o+ J. r& M. b7 h* Bunlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|