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: R6 D$ C) [. }) u8 J
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider# e* c6 m y I+ M
Beijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
h; y. _! K2 l7 O3 C- C& xcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
/ R1 ~6 g6 |) Z: w) bAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,! o/ Y1 f: n {8 o
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
% z+ Y) L( O o6 s; V# Y8 FManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within1 Z3 L! p+ N; P) i, X; x
hutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among9 V# P1 t( d! [% \
each other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera
; z) ]2 W7 s3 i W$ K* sand Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is. D' u! x/ Z C: k
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are) V9 s1 Z7 V2 R$ S' O; s
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and1 k9 n$ \# w5 j0 \! S
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
Y5 A- r( w2 Y) j2 Rwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great! l2 D# \. p4 d6 Y# O" o6 O2 O
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,
- D3 e/ V* x3 I2 Wand we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong6 x3 x$ S5 F, p. P
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
: ~4 a5 k( j1 O% q) Bof hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
! j8 l1 l. h. v2 j8 k8 u; Q Z9 X! n' {no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are: ]+ f7 M B+ R6 p7 q
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a* C3 h0 p- i* e) U0 j( z" N
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
\& P/ {9 H3 ^; M7 N0 d4 @, }want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
8 N1 z" X3 I9 \* M" M, D eto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is4 F/ l8 q7 K W* E! T% g
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,2 O7 [8 Q3 V7 w! q/ J$ E! H
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are. Y* }: N# M" l/ B% e2 R7 d0 ^
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 to, n: `1 d% y8 Q, O
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
: k# @2 _" A0 M a) }money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
3 ^/ {' B5 m) @, t, Wa beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a% x" l% T# u2 B1 P$ x
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
& R. w/ p4 Y# W7 Xthe 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
) S. u8 J! E& ?. S' r" jimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
) r- x$ {$ J( G! H. Jdevelopment.
Hutongs
" T5 c1 y. b' Q- f+ ^7 g( b# Din the old days were residential area where people actually lived/ U0 p8 o7 E# }0 r5 d$ Q# ^6 R
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
; h: T: d# a- c- o; }3 ain hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not4 P3 F8 m7 n7 m6 C4 g7 W% w
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
5 W# {. a4 q8 @will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.5 R3 ^0 k+ x) v( a: F% z
Furthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date# _6 I5 a& [+ l. E
to support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used i- X2 p; G! u- S, v* b
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
l1 x' ~; M& X9 K( ysupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically9 ~% s# z* T/ x; `7 j( \
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to; |( M5 ^$ C$ E& p0 V
live in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose," G: h1 V( |2 _; u6 W7 i+ S/ u) a6 _
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the2 m* v7 ?4 R9 C: `, @
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the6 M+ j4 H! Y$ C
project into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
0 A, g. n" }9 j# S$ p1 B8 l; ~renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong
% S% F3 \% c' n1 `. m; q) o4 |Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
$ V& z" f) u8 `* _" P/ Speople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be2 g4 p1 \) B( I/ |* d
torn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished3 }! @: b6 s7 R) o3 O0 E6 Y
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
! }1 c" f* v0 j8 _& KNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are4 q5 p( D7 A2 H
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
7 i( L( c& t; D1 E8 w8 H2 inon-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image: b# Z% N9 E* t! S' p; V
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
0 c: @3 w. `9 f, B( u% ?Hutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those' o, W0 R d/ P" Z
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they4 R# _- J1 m |* ~& K& @
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some2 j# Q2 k( s- p E4 p* V. X
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before e3 M- T; v: R+ S( x& o, }
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all) \$ E* u8 T! q# S7 A+ N9 n# [5 V
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise
) h. ]( _3 b5 Hapartments are the way to go? No.
7 Z- J% {' s F+ n4 Y. ?! @
9 x* \5 E, X1 b/ j+ J l6 E
/ M4 S# | w& g* i- k- X
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the( U+ `' s6 y ?
situation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
6 p- Z% }8 P& s* h# I4 z5 I- F'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make s9 j) Y6 U8 D. U
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
! g8 v& {) r$ l9 {+ Kfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
; {$ X5 a5 q( Gresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
/ N7 V v0 }( \6 Y/ P/ \0 X: O9 s2 DBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is ~& i! \5 l3 p4 l# g6 `5 F2 K
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|