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, its9 ^4 n1 j. G. Y$ k
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider* o" d1 Z' p( G! ]
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
* S9 `3 |3 ]. h5 ccity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.( u) @4 J8 |, y. T& u
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
# K# z# s* V; y3 U6 X3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
% c2 z( n; S4 Y4 K1 `. ^Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
- j* R& `4 T/ I B- xhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among; `: o B: w# j" f; ~$ A# Q
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera9 G c- u, ]- o9 o) m3 m
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
9 ]; X$ d4 O v c( [harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
' I( {0 X% v5 R& v$ zdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
0 Z( {& s$ Z- T" B- Lforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
8 i% _5 _& V: P$ Rwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
3 N) J D- l6 Ximpression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,- p( ?0 t! L* B
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
6 ~5 p5 l# e! j9 Mhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment- @$ g, ~5 x+ A% T0 ^; u
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that$ C. ~2 S0 L( L C3 x
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
( [$ w$ t3 ^- R' g$ R9 C3 B6 N monly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
1 d* s1 o' l) g+ X7 ?sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government' b0 o" O1 P4 ~: s
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move. ]6 Y9 G! V4 t5 N
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is& i) a! O1 H" ^3 p5 K, a3 L9 b8 [
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,; {* y9 ^6 a. v3 a/ T0 w3 D* W: G
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
, D- U7 P, k, [+ _8 Z v' m, Nstill 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
+ j' j z& f; d! k* }: {"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
/ O* _& v5 k% n; B! bmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was; {8 h0 a# \- q P
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a C# u2 t. t+ v
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
0 W2 }! Y" {, ~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
2 @1 i2 F' j- N3 C( s; S0 S8 limportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
/ M7 K2 W' F' E( Pdevelopment.
Hutongs4 t1 t2 q( d0 r5 I; h7 C2 n. q7 x$ _9 J
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived/ e! n3 D; J5 K7 }' @" f; m
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions" E# C6 L! V* {; D
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
- p# E2 q2 r2 g0 }4 ehave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you y, V0 ?% y" P$ v4 ~& L
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.! r6 u/ m. |. d0 I
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
- d4 v4 \: t+ A. r5 o, w. ?to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used0 \8 w" s2 }& r- S, ]5 q$ e
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses% b" M) u% \! A
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
- L/ p; o* M; Wunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
8 \6 Y5 y1 x: c% p6 C( ylive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
' L- X8 A7 z8 ~- {3 y Vhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
) Z/ O" @6 P% D7 d' E* sbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
( T1 A8 B6 G5 N& Xproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
# v. W* c; o& ?6 g2 R/ f4 D( n8 d5 Hrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong9 Y5 V% \$ ~6 g$ P
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how5 A% M9 b+ o% ^5 u) ]: t
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be% K Z: u0 b1 m9 d" s. w) a5 q
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished5 S# ?, G& [ F1 A5 F, ]/ ~5 o
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
# I9 o; e% q( G" q3 pNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
4 N8 p% J9 B3 a, H2 H9 Valigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
& N1 H" T, [: Tnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
$ H& }& W& D9 v' o$ kof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these! g7 b9 A1 S) Z4 r; Q3 L
Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those1 g* s4 K$ I8 T6 n" `
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
$ B+ H4 g Q- r' j0 ~8 j( Z3 ?may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
1 e! S) i$ |$ Q) u# ~of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before; L; S# R& ~+ c# m3 V
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all7 u. P+ u* `4 Z9 j9 W; j0 b
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
, r# _- @$ Y" c7 T( _apartments are the way to go? No.5 P0 }! Z2 T, |3 b: f+ d/ V
! p: m3 `! i& T- @
1 b% r5 Y4 [1 b% h, J% K7 n! e
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
7 C+ X! @) S- E/ b% dsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this7 a/ _( H( b: |4 O& v$ V
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
& m7 } O, d1 N; i& v* K" h; `no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
) O; ]2 ~+ [9 Y% |3 r5 Z1 }* Tfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
% ^# S0 z2 ?' w1 i e* Vresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
& m6 d# ]3 I" ?3 QBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is7 V* Q1 v- a) K+ O$ u4 m
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|