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A Hutong Discussion

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发表于 2007-4-24 05:08:00 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
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! ?( `. M3 M, g9 a architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider2 w! i. q+ I- u5 i ^ Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"7 g0 Y2 z0 }: w6 b/ D" Y8 A city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture. . i+ @3 }. J% R& c6 bAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,% s I3 T& u% K 3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of 7 ^. [# d2 @+ {) zManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.

Within ' f2 F- w2 s" ^hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among " ]$ w5 S- h3 @2 O9 Geach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera + h+ n+ V$ L# o$ K, r h) p4 kand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is & k: i- ?+ _& [, d6 O/ n& O* a! P, Oharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are # V) O$ G6 @; i, \! l- f& N% odescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and 0 t3 H, ~ p" g/ F Wforms of culture emerged in hutong.

I, T# @. R+ m7 r% n8 m! d+ l was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great5 n# Z9 X# B, I1 |3 [6 ? impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished, j8 m' }7 Y; V& l and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong/ ^' y& x0 `/ m( u+ r- S has a history of more than 400 years!

Since 1999, the demolishment5 G/ ]' c6 s; q. M* ^- t# N$ \ of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that0 j/ `; D5 T: L/ Q+ ]& e no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are J8 B# P+ e$ i! x7 ? bonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a: h$ H# a1 v& D( ?' y: Y sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government& L1 Q2 ^ r( E K% l) d! g+ g+ {, c h want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move ; h+ f6 M/ K! J3 D/ C$ Ito the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is " z$ Y M, o! c0 I9 V" K"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact, 4 J% t1 q! J1 l: Z" Fthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are + o% f$ T# l* ]3 [$ Rstill 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$ p6 @2 [ u( ]: T "progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make 9 t, M4 w: L4 I) Jmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was / z) \# l- L0 Fa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a. f4 D) M) k) B; R1 A# Y$ O- w parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across 9 n- u* m7 J5 V* Y2 M: `$ Mthe 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) g4 g/ p( l5 l/ x8 M4 f' | importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for 0 }8 n( k* E8 C/ d) rdevelopment.

Hutongs8 h0 e0 e' B& h, H* w in the old days were residential area where people actually lived # y/ j& T: `6 c% r3 D2 Tthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions s3 }9 a. U$ }. }) o* v7 min hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not% _- m1 P% W- { have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you9 b3 a5 D* J/ t! s8 N will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.2 q6 v5 Y" I( K: g6 ]0 f/ ` Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date+ V: |% j7 a8 h2 J( o1 X! p8 b to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used / f/ e: x5 g; U2 cto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses ) F, A# e/ R$ g2 U/ E, Rsupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically ; S- J! c6 ]- O. uunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to6 d3 d7 q5 {4 w1 D3 f0 i live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose, . s3 S Z) V( k- H2 F2 t9 ihutong is only a tourist attraction.

The best way to find the! r- z1 w9 O5 c* d balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the - K1 T# M- _0 N& X& Oproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be% p/ z9 K ]2 t" M6 T- d6 M renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong. l; v+ t( H+ J& h- e( I: \) l Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how9 K7 u7 I: C; `' m$ w people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be! R, T2 G2 S5 ?4 M9 _; A torn down or transformed into something else.

TwinkieDP:

I'm sorry that your cherished! q/ k- Q) I$ \3 J) v- _ memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress". 0 o/ O# w0 H" H7 N; Q3 ]% G! N) sNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are 5 |( @1 @5 r3 f2 Z% maligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially - Z( M/ O/ k+ o" F" Inon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image , w4 K h5 a" K$ ]2 D Gof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these : F) Z9 L6 K9 s# UHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those7 J* [7 x0 g* x, @! G people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they 8 M+ ]& ]9 Y- smay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some9 s# |1 s0 W+ I of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before# u) [- N' _9 Y- O7 M3 k "modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all ' Z p4 g( S0 P) h0 bpeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise J" E% P. w2 i! K- H* y) l" r apartments are the way to go? No.: t5 W% G$ b. n* w+ O; _# G + M/ p# ^" w4 k! U / Y& b% H& b; Q6 n

Howard Fu:

I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs.
But the $ e6 b4 ]' M* G& g6 j4 g3 Y, E# lsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this / `$ M f$ d" @* h'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make ; x3 c" F2 A6 _% ?6 w* jno money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so & T6 |5 s& ~$ {$ Q) R2 efast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant9 t* ?- J8 L% x- i) i resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless% U' J0 _4 U. `6 Z; f Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is + x& s0 p7 u8 O! X; uunlikely to happen too. Sad!
发表于 2007-5-22 20:37:00 | 显示全部楼层
Excuse me. May I use ur discussion in my dissertation about Beijing Conservation?
Thx a lot!!
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