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
# s: |' b X) s0 _- V" Harchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider: ?* _/ ?; \* W9 |8 b* [
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
4 E, ?, Y; f9 T. o" P7 V8 ?/ c4 Gcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.4 Y: Y- N0 Q. Y6 A. @3 c- t" L
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,% p% s8 o1 b' S/ P6 O. N* A# ^: o# ^
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
5 Y, J2 P3 \ A/ Y! a. N2 UManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within/ N7 W! A9 ?) A4 E- j
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
$ `% o Z$ c0 h2 `3 Veach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera- i% J+ d" J& `$ V7 i; C
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
. h7 O/ e9 d% H. C6 s/ K" \2 ~9 m% zharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are4 J. c. s: y* g; } l/ d6 O- O
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
# J* x; L6 l" O8 a) S# Pforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I* y+ v" G& x! S S0 ~
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
8 j8 n; Z& ]3 _6 h9 [: Aimpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,6 P# l8 N# E( W C# I/ }' A
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong, W3 l) k2 z! h6 B7 o
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment3 F3 k# b$ |" F: x" Y" R
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that8 U+ ^) Y: b2 L+ Q( Q0 u
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
r9 c+ g; e( Z& j! n* k6 Konly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a+ \* V5 ~2 e% A" u9 ?8 N1 ^# F
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
( m( \, |) a" ]. ?: E$ f. H7 kwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
6 a% b; n# K0 j1 n+ X6 ^to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
1 q3 z* }" r9 Y* k"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,4 B5 O# W$ K* p+ V# g/ f
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
) ^' ?9 n% P1 J" fstill 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$ Z; p6 {; ^% g1 N5 s2 P' P
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make# P0 p& [6 ~ R( g
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
, S5 D) L3 K( D# [4 ~1 Ya beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a- O: E' Y" Z. k u" V3 |/ D
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across* b( T5 A4 h1 `& c
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 cultural
1 J% [ I" o; b+ N- C4 zimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for8 B) D. ^# e" n2 k; R
development.
Hutongs+ d* S9 P7 o* T: ]8 T
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
- H3 x" d- y5 P/ m kthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
# V) w) d; _, e0 P) n" [5 din hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not6 ^( Z; N: c5 h. Y6 S, y" Q
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you4 @3 Z, |: A$ b) w
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
* g4 ^" A6 A& f5 A3 U1 JFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
* |' ^/ e- a: m4 \& |+ J/ Tto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used' P$ i, B; O. b' G* N% a% p
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses$ J1 u) K* Z' q8 X$ e& s
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
- h( d( O- M1 l" u1 \( v6 a" h; |unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
4 v U/ `! @% `% T' \6 llive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,8 {0 _7 [& h) Z5 m* ?
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
( P" H( `5 e% C& Qbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the8 r5 Q8 L1 D2 u1 P4 r c7 j$ g) G
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
7 E1 K2 ? [" I$ l( l& vrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
" E! _) I# X2 v% } VMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
0 l- X" W* p) L) k6 {' Dpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be' w% C) u1 J, a) m' i7 J, q' b3 |
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished+ U, ^' b+ p7 M0 u, O
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".% z4 [# Q/ r/ O
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are7 @6 t0 ^) T! a* [7 q: Q/ [
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
, C; Y$ u% h1 z. Hnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
! ]* o/ V6 J% B9 q/ Wof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these' q; ?2 ^, p9 A A% E* a
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
1 M# @3 E% W! T0 b9 {people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they1 g" z5 \1 v( n9 j0 m
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some7 I# p; d# ]6 n- j8 o9 z' j
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
3 f! s/ B( j& O0 s"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all' R" P" [+ E+ W0 w) r
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise3 W: r* y' h4 A. J
apartments are the way to go? No.9 Q5 s; D7 x) ^; [
$ ]$ P5 w, Y/ G+ z; k N 3 O! S1 S- I8 ]" d5 t
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the3 o8 A* ?6 b' G2 X( w3 o% `
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this$ F, f, e6 m0 W9 _7 M1 j) D
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make$ w' O: Q P. c0 `2 R) F
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so' X: R* s5 C% T, {
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
# D4 z2 S. j* a, M/ X3 s* iresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless" o7 O6 m9 x3 q+ u; A7 \% ^
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
+ _8 T8 [! S/ Y! M) q, @( o2 eunlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|