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
8 r7 j7 A5 m5 g2 \9 \architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
2 t" ]6 ^' M" S2 t- O0 GBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian", j* A; f9 Q# z( ]7 C
city. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.) K& \: A# A5 U( n2 Z
According to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,0 D9 W' @! [+ d3 v3 b J* G
3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of$ l2 T: ^0 a1 ?: o9 b; z; N3 [& C
Manchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
! l" s' C7 S) t' @, ^7 T bhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
7 M! L4 {2 s; Ueach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera( Q. C( ~8 T! }3 V. ~! M% } I S# z
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is \3 q; d& b6 d+ r- \
harmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are+ \# C9 u6 n# j3 b5 n0 Y. Z
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and
% o7 H% f4 `% L4 H. t- \forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I1 h0 L' Z) ~/ L% d* y2 g
was born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great
+ W( G X. f5 I3 C/ n' C, [impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,2 E7 k+ _) S' a ^' a8 a' a
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong" W- L- ]# ^" O5 r$ F9 J
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment0 n0 S9 l9 V9 p) [& U
of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that2 W+ J& y6 ^5 `/ _
no hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are% ]( B, w' D* ?. ^3 q! _, W
only enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a
7 @" P+ @+ f5 \' q4 w9 Wsort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
% M! g ~3 e Mwant to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move
1 y( e( p8 b) W7 `; ]& K, c* G9 Jto the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is4 T8 W- v: Y& i4 P, h
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,* N: ?5 A, N$ l! @6 |6 k
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
4 `" O" P+ N1 K3 [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
- D# l, N/ l) t' N g"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
0 S# \2 [9 u8 {money for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
1 S: T- T# a ra beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a
8 _7 @4 |& j. U# x z1 m- Lparking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across4 q- F, Q, @# W2 t5 U% ?
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
3 ~. `* k' R d2 B0 gimportance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for
5 F# k" p5 v' T9 Sdevelopment.
Hutongs
. f- g6 o4 A6 B8 b) Xin the old days were residential area where people actually lived, \1 g. t. t; Z! v+ _8 T$ }
there. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions0 A5 o; `! N7 ^) F* X
in hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not
( R; @: f; ?" d; B' l+ D& I8 Chave plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you
1 M+ k* f8 T: |2 x& Owill have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
) c: D. ~: x) g3 H5 p( j$ xFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
6 h/ @- j% \4 y& v" ~. Y7 e" @0 p3 Ito support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used
1 j" k/ F) X! B3 _ P8 E. f6 cto hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses
+ [; R6 p, s/ r9 B4 isupport a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically
5 t# X$ V, z) X# c; w+ j6 eunfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
0 W( j" ? q/ y4 Olive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,( Y5 N1 A# w5 b5 ~; V4 w
hutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the
( v& B9 V) I9 n* V; Cbalance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
9 m0 S9 C1 l a, s7 y; Xproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be8 O2 X8 i. \# [+ f; ~9 \: V
renovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong2 |. G; V, Y$ d2 B) t9 |7 P
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how
. {3 h; }; K) p! U; q1 Lpeople lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
! H# [. P- K' O* `# ]) D- c$ otorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished2 g Q4 [3 E# d: c, z+ Z
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
; F1 i. |7 q9 N2 mNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are) P5 f: _) s; f# h' o+ t* |. o- m
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially3 W7 ]4 f& A7 R) g, f$ s a
non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image
8 } o2 U, B+ c; L7 Mof the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
4 O4 `$ b3 S- C. ~6 sHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those
0 O3 z% E' E& V- s$ ]people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they
6 `; L2 s; Z/ A( x5 ]6 N, mmay appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some: y& a" Y+ C$ q2 `# n! k5 T' l
of the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before
3 x: i, W! @* g6 D+ _" Q) s"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all
9 Z$ }* i4 Y5 c$ Ppeople needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise) L& K! S7 ^+ s1 h
apartments are the way to go? No.
. W$ [! E/ t4 r! a9 ? + x o( t( D3 ]1 k7 P) N* X% _
. ^# m3 R8 {2 ]& d8 n
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
7 k0 y% N2 }$ V( W3 _. q! A2 p! Psituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this
! v: F) T3 K/ S( @'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make
: p, u1 s' ^* }* {4 X0 q+ {0 ^7 Q5 i0 Ino money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so
/ F4 N- A# H% B" |) K& o7 zfast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant5 v+ W0 J2 {4 E Y8 d
resistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless5 D' P+ d, V4 o' m3 m
Beijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is
6 M1 V# x1 u0 j6 w* s1 Junlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|