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
9 g7 \1 Y- i0 @4 H- G0 r. Oarchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
- w0 ^" o/ _6 r) o: W9 _Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"5 i5 D1 T& `; {) B: i, `1 C& r. F
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.' T% t5 y7 h) i, A" n% e: F& i5 v
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
$ V: l) g1 i% ?5 V2 E) m9 q9 B3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
6 a7 \' P( r' _2 u8 ]. P+ b9 ^Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within3 v" S, J1 f/ H+ P S2 F
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among* s1 o0 L7 N3 V; U1 z8 o. i( S
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
6 N( J6 S7 I2 \4 Y; Tand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
- N* d* z: }4 D" Z7 j! ^0 G: c% qharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are
( t1 c2 _4 S+ Vdescended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
2 p/ e# W, W3 t2 B! Wforms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
Y. D/ g$ I2 Twas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great1 T, n! N/ G! q4 m8 P B2 T
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
% a8 Z: A& C8 R5 |: Z/ y/ z( d5 Tand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
4 I5 F a7 z4 xhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
, ]# F# @- d* Vof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
/ p: U/ B! L0 h2 r4 [' gno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
1 Q5 J3 I2 W% B$ l: M( ?) ?only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
4 ?, D( U8 a# r1 v( Isort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government e' }+ J1 _# \; Q! s4 {
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move4 r4 j. S8 B% t* p
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
" ]. h) T1 X/ i6 f8 r* m$ F"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
0 e; [( U5 S! I- ~2 x& r( Qthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
: O9 g% m1 z1 {* 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' N: g1 k, T2 _$ F& W+ D" `
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
$ x0 ?0 H3 d8 c/ j: {# [money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was4 P2 G: d7 T$ j, Q
a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a; a/ _* R% ]% G) C0 s' M$ R
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
3 Y9 l/ V5 O/ u. b- Q( B5 V. k3 Ithe 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
! |5 d( d/ n# n ~) uimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
+ b E3 s' O8 k( pdevelopment.
Hutongs
1 R# p( ^9 L# x; win the old days were residential area where people actually lived0 p; i, \9 t: @* @3 b
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions% b$ p3 J0 v* y. [. A
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
3 {! R! e* ]' a3 O' [9 Uhave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you' i: _% H$ ]& Z3 p6 K7 }3 V0 ]) W
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.8 I& M/ b) Y$ a9 f2 I) [ K) i
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date5 [+ f/ D" q; U4 j' |- S
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
) a8 k- Y1 r; j2 M6 v. ^1 C: \/ dto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses( c. n. I4 |7 p- Y' m; f
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
) e; P% t" u: h& c% ^2 a! s* f5 n0 Z3 h; Tunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to9 i1 y3 D g' ~8 F5 {9 c
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
% \, C; t2 o: Z, Xhutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the! |" F0 H' z" @! j( K: M
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
& t/ d X5 N6 ]+ V9 p! Q3 Fproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
& Y/ j6 f: p; D$ G% I; s; {renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
# T, e" U! w6 i6 g# r0 T T0 IMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how+ O9 j) Y" P4 @- w
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
8 |& u5 Q% J0 A ]+ m$ J$ Ltorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished, O* ~! u2 k# w# P f
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
. g9 a, r" J- i7 v) h" ~Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are( l! ?6 v8 V: X1 S( x a
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
& t* u+ ?3 v5 ?: t7 K8 j% S' cnon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
+ a. X( E4 V Jof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
" u8 C7 O2 O* {& n5 m. ]Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those* m6 e$ V, O* l3 g
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
+ |( c# e) o" }2 O1 F6 m3 e# tmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some) d" H; O3 W2 o
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before; Y) l" |9 f( u K I
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all6 i0 W- g# m1 @, |* n
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise% ~* Y! r, ]. a
apartments are the way to go? No.- d( B$ `- o9 l% }
; d3 s. i. u9 I) R& ~
+ J1 c9 I# K, w1 \
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
3 z7 V2 X& r% F# X& p6 bsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this8 |% Z+ o6 G8 b! w
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make# c" p+ R! W, P. R3 R8 f& a- O) Q# Y# w
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so2 }9 J- t, z' e' [/ [' }
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant6 |) ^/ l, b6 T# h
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
7 [0 D7 T# ?& U+ A" k; nBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
$ [4 Z4 {* }5 v# tunlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|