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
; _ [4 w" k4 e& Y/ @: ^& m: i' parchitecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider3 [6 p* T% O, e% A( }$ j
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
u! F& z9 ^- y+ t5 Tcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
' k6 m0 S8 v: P( N7 `$ V+ uAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
T- ]: B3 x [2 u3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
% U% V+ B; |1 y+ d( K% TManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within7 V4 | u5 g$ r# p( u- s! F
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among v+ e- `$ U9 D/ W P6 V, @
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
) m* X% u" M+ C# Jand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
4 ?' F e2 W5 N1 D W* s- Q% gharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are; k7 ~5 m/ E7 K
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
/ R* O9 f7 A% \7 `; I" @forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
' h' b b! ?3 y3 i; b/ Ewas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great* b$ J( P9 k2 L; J, Q2 \
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
0 I) ^4 ?+ P8 t y" [/ sand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong
% ^2 l- t7 {: G& I1 t" uhas a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment7 R( w! u$ \4 e
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
# J2 T2 u- W- `- W3 [& z8 Ono hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
- s/ K4 }" E; {3 x' yonly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
/ j8 ~# A7 h; Z; \6 |; dsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government* m5 _# a& d4 m) ~8 g" d
want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
7 f! B( D# E' P! r8 D. W- Kto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is
% C% J: d% A2 E* D"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,
6 k+ N% K$ C; E0 N/ S5 J$ c+ e/ m2 lthis movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are, Z% i. h, \2 Y6 J0 y, k
still 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 to7 m( J- k( Y2 N
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make e" j5 r. J0 F
money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
+ Y( `1 f/ Z9 x4 Da beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
+ v9 l( c( b6 ]9 oparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
9 G0 E2 o. C- }8 Othe 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
( y, h" C. p: `) Pimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for% Z, w9 ?8 m$ }. P) q
development.
Hutongs2 u4 D6 F( t+ q
in the old days were residential area where people actually lived
$ T0 {. i* ?- a" |7 Wthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions+ ]* x$ z. N, Q3 H4 W
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not1 B- O6 a3 I+ o7 T
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
! O$ Z& W1 s; g1 x1 N1 N% lwill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
1 l4 w4 b1 ^5 K& ~4 f$ ]Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
- [. h& I8 I6 c' B4 z" j0 J( X8 Bto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
; [( x8 |/ ` d8 Bto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
) @1 ~4 N7 D% M- T; asupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically4 H' e1 Z) G! P8 C# G' W$ i4 Y
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to( V( K1 M% K$ I; ^: P! m3 {% ?
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,3 E. M/ p, b0 _5 c: G
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
# X; i4 x! |/ b4 I I/ g* m5 z' M% cbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the' K3 S1 c% ?- V' e
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be$ ^ @7 V/ X8 T/ f
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
# O0 ]/ C6 v5 _/ t0 _5 q2 a* rMuseum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how9 m1 A: U3 X v* X% R# s% Q0 F9 T
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
/ C+ g1 M/ `; Z( Itorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished! s: t B# O% ]$ k) Z% @! D) \
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".+ }9 L' d3 X/ V
Nothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are
( t$ F/ t& b, ]0 u! galigned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
8 d; z' d9 f3 O0 m7 Snon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image. [6 v" M: |( H$ U4 g' A% |
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
b' Q1 ` f3 OHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those8 {7 e8 C+ P9 p/ Y
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they. _* k! c) z' f
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
5 V4 |& s- j5 W+ K- xof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
9 N7 q7 D+ T0 ]: m( l% j"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all2 ~) O0 N* C* [) c
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
- t" f/ X' D/ E: H2 H( z: @4 W+ wapartments are the way to go? No.
. R( L* z; d9 }- M W $ \- X) |; V. \! r) }8 }$ O0 s
e! R/ e/ M& ^" V* \! f/ K" e( p' d
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the C0 b6 l+ w9 v* J
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this0 G% c" ]+ N x3 j1 d
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
) z, C5 u& Q" G: w6 {. {& D' |no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
* j: y+ \$ M3 b0 S5 A$ Ofast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
7 y! X# E" q# ^5 O( A6 z7 w$ z* Vresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
, a' s/ o( O/ f. ]0 z# O$ a6 NBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
- J# |3 t5 W3 r% B+ @, ]unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|