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
/ m0 K9 R9 I3 p" S- |2 W" Barchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider9 z) k$ l" Y' F0 w$ M
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"3 B' d. |2 E$ v: U
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.' j: V& l+ x8 b+ @- ]
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,1 K' h* F7 N0 H$ U
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
5 p. w+ _" @- [" E, l6 J# VManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
$ J7 A i4 Q# `8 c( M! Chutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among+ H7 A$ e4 P4 s* u' ` o3 [
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera6 G' }' w* }4 |, w G! f3 I" P
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is' T+ j! W1 {# _
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
9 o- D; d1 N- Cdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and M' P5 ?6 Z! o% h' D1 s
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
1 H2 ^6 R f/ z K7 S. g$ rwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
2 a+ [) x# J/ Y; `4 timpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,. L- I+ k* x. J$ n
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong4 u& x& z8 w. p) s2 I. k
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
' b* Y1 I- B6 ?( Iof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that! E4 v5 w: f% v
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
+ D1 D- B$ \- g1 q* J$ L2 nonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a( s5 O# E7 j, b7 X! K
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government: P$ J$ L _0 b9 h9 P$ O6 f
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move5 O' w4 x; B/ J. V0 }: @
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
# W S4 q) |- U* J4 Y3 l"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
! F. q0 x9 H5 ]7 gthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
5 X5 t8 _; L" }% H( ystill 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: E- r* F, X2 u; u
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
z ?. }7 {2 P5 J( a- Mmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was; p; `* u+ M2 k7 K" v* w- f
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a* o' L# p" u0 N5 K0 z7 B
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
. N7 u9 [7 H! ]% V0 I; m5 t& P: q* Nthe 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 cultural
W; W& }8 m2 X! P9 fimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
1 c; `9 S9 H, w. {9 Kdevelopment.
Hutongs9 L% H' I8 R ?2 b
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived2 {2 M+ W$ }) q3 Y: l) V" L
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
' ]( H& R8 t. R2 o% Bin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not v' q4 J0 r$ Q+ c+ I7 F: H
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you- P4 \% k, K7 o
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
+ k5 `4 Q+ s# j. {& sFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
# U9 c0 ~8 z+ e: H4 `to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
. _: X! y+ q5 J! ]6 B ito hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses$ e' B! M1 d" M, `6 O
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically) B' @0 }3 C) g4 B
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to/ e$ ]8 T" o- e3 D% `4 E- ~! a
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
4 ^: w" U2 K4 C* {: r$ Ehutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the* E( x8 m4 V* n5 S$ b
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
8 J0 ]( k" h& Mproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
o3 p! B# A! y; T" Q! _renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong" [5 i- K% E5 F& R% b9 @) u. ^. _
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
: r- K! F: b6 M& ppeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be9 z: F" e h8 |) k$ W
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished8 _; {; n. L/ ~6 R2 F) M, P! w
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
$ B; Z; u* d! Z8 kNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
2 m$ A o. a3 X. {aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
6 p: W; ]! A8 \- f/ ]6 J1 Knon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
" s: j" b5 {' O% d' y3 C: Aof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these6 Q! ?& j/ `$ R
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
8 h ` V4 x6 d8 B+ O' ^people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they' m+ R* I2 @3 X9 Z% E7 s# v
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
5 M! }# ?* C8 t$ D; Pof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before" t4 t2 Y2 c. P0 K) ]) V) X+ I
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all1 a+ ~4 |. z) Q8 b4 Y; h& K
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise4 ]6 P4 Z/ \5 r/ w0 i* D/ d8 z
apartments are the way to go? No.
2 f7 c8 Q$ v* a
. _8 G1 T( y7 g8 s% |, @# Z8 k " ]; z" i1 q" q% J; W% u& A( k
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the% h: H) ^$ P4 V& ~4 X' A
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
& J4 p5 U* V9 D# m4 k" T% u, L'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make) W& F% L7 z+ }' g% D" @, H3 [
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
$ [' J, F$ f% B4 I. s. hfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
! z( P7 {( X2 W5 i% R9 ]6 Iresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless& |1 m- w/ Z8 g) q" k+ e [6 b
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
) W& T S( [6 j1 N$ k: V2 `unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|