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. j$ T) p! }$ Q0 `& B" ]/ ]6 p# b
architecture style is supreme throughout China. Please do not consider
]# b& ], Z! k9 o: xBeijing as just an "Imperial City". It in fact, is a more "civilian"
9 l/ U4 w) c. a2 N$ J2 b. Tcity. Hutong or alley way is the kernel of Beijing's culture.
) N/ [% n) l `5 k- w9 J! ZAccording to some books, there were 1,200 hutongs in Yuan Dynasty,
8 `( K0 I" _6 c3,600 hutongs in Ming Dynasty, and over 6,000 hutongs at the end of
3 @: C! z3 i) {) gManchu Qing Dynasty. Most of the hutongs are well preserved until 1999.
Within
* @0 ~2 J9 A/ Bhutongs, the citizens maintain a good neighborhood relationship among
# x$ A* ^/ D C$ `% c# y9 J$ H8 w1 ueach other. Senior citizens play Chinese chess or listen to Peking Opera9 M# S0 F2 j7 v+ I% `6 g8 B
and Pingju. Children play outside. The atmosphere in hutong is
" l7 D, {$ g7 e1 L4 j; O+ kharmonious. The architectural styles of hutong are diverse, but all are' B/ _$ {& `+ z) m
descended from traditional Chinese culture. Many great events and9 Q& P( \& W: X7 f9 t4 ~* F) p
forms of culture emerged in hutong.
I
2 J7 |# _4 g: D/ ^4 Nwas born in Beijing hutong. My childhood leaves me a great) c; S0 z! N6 Q& d6 j( g
impression. In 1990, the hutong where my home stood was demolished,% f# |/ d5 U0 j9 `* x* q
and we have to move into residential skyscrapers. You know, this hutong3 M+ F3 f( ]% F) P" x3 v% S
has a history of more than 400 years!
Since 1999, the demolishment
" R/ a. }- T7 Z b% |of hutong has been a common thing in Beijing. There has been said that
2 m" I" M5 ~3 X- y! k! X% F1 |4 Cno hutongs will stand after 2008. Many people from outside Beijing are
: n5 n- s2 F8 q" Ionly enthusiastic in "enjoying" skyscrapers, they consider hutong as a2 X: P7 |, ~6 _% H
sort of under modernized structure. They, along with the government
, W, c6 |6 n2 @want to demolish them and replace them with meaningless skyscrapers. In 2004, more than 10,000 households in hutongs were forced to move. B) G; D1 U' `4 G9 k4 C- B* v+ P
to the suburbs. The official reason of "Hutong Demolish Movement" is1 ?* u! ^6 T6 M U
"modernization", or "preparing for the Olympic Games", but in fact,$ j) G3 x/ A" y6 G! {* s
this movement has nothing to do with the modernization and Olympics: citizens in hutong are
3 ]! D4 d$ G* Q+ Ustill 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 to9 k3 v! m# a; D0 u6 v- ?
"progress." But, it unfortunately happens all over the world to make
, A6 Z V# V( p, t& v: pmoney for big business... including the very town I live in. There was
* z: d1 H: B) T% V0 d7 E' ]a beautiful Methodist Church that was demolished to make way for a$ v3 t7 K0 y3 s X3 c0 n- w
parking lot... it was built in the early 1700's. The graveyard across
' u) Y; e2 b6 Z2 @, P: `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
m U; U6 t1 z' V/ ?, `importance , I also support that some hutongs have to be torn down for7 B+ z' ?0 i k+ [0 E
development.
Hutongs
6 M4 |2 }3 c) p) c K; Kin the old days were residential area where people actually lived
1 l! A; g& h9 X' @9 |2 X2 Vthere. The same cannot be said for today because the living conditions
9 V* h* h8 G4 c5 Rin hutongs are not up to standard. The houses within the hutongs do not6 q4 }1 s. H! C% f& _% _6 }# C
have plumbing and electricity, and if you want to install that, you4 a0 ` R( n- M$ G* w: r8 O) m
will have to pay a high cost in building a system just for the hutongs.
2 P, a& @& _, EFurthermore, the style of the houses, four combination, is out of date
% E! o/ f' n% Mto support the mobile population in modern day Beijing. The houses used$ H9 N1 f+ [/ t @$ y' Q- I# E& L: {
to hold a whole family within them, while modern apartments and houses& d0 ~5 o: t0 v3 Y" `( N
support a nucleus family. That said, the hutongs are economically8 a: Y" \- A! H( u# ], `- h
unfeasible for ordinary people. I for one, do not see the reason to
" T0 w, u# p- f; j+ U9 w4 P7 alive in a hutong with the traditional houses. Losing its main purpose,
: w. x1 n/ y8 m1 F7 K' X' K* ]0 Ihutong is only a tourist attraction.
The best way to find the$ s& L8 ]- j8 }& u R, a
balance between development and cultural perservation is to confine the
8 o! ]2 w5 e- x) zproject into a district. Within this district, the hutongs should be
4 C2 R e/ R D' s" o6 rrenovated to show the old face of Beijing. They should build a Hutong# L, n' L1 e6 R: P# C6 w! Q
Museum and allow people to actually walk into the houses to see how% D* j7 n: |# M" o* I
people lived in them. The hutongs outside of the district should be
/ m( H* t7 B* G) f4 J7 p8 Wtorn down or transformed into something else.
TwinkieDP:
I'm sorry that your cherished/ n, L8 A( A) H. x4 k$ _$ o
memories of Old Beijing is being destroyed in the Path of "progress".
2 J' b) r1 c/ W; l" E6 PNothing against preservation of Hutongs, but I think my feelings are7 C5 m0 r& ], \4 M H- T
aligned with Ashura's. When people outside of China (especially
; V3 y5 {% N0 a/ ]non-Chinese) think about the Cultural treasures of Beijing, the image% x' _0 H# K( \3 K1 \) s5 g
of the Hutongs is hardly brought up. I've seen pictures of these
' x0 X: e' i$ y( o v' h1 SHutongs, and I'm sure these peaceful neighborhoods mean a lot to those; Q6 t* p) L( b, P- O/ s
people who have lived their for generations, but to the outsider they. \; `; Q8 L! h( ?% a" }: P- a: D
may appear to be outdated and substandard living quarters. I agree some
& y; s5 Y# O2 l: Eof the cultural aspects showing how ordinary people lived before6 v; n- z3 Q' H$ w8 ~
"modernization" should be preserved, but living standards for all Y6 \2 f i) E' c
people needs to continually improve. Am I saying that high-rise7 M7 H2 d* u" p
apartments are the way to go? No.
% c! \" {* [3 Z a; U0 U
% n& @5 X9 J% x8 m, f ! V; ?& d$ H. M$ | B- y5 N
Howard Fu:
I have great sympathy for you and Beijing's old Hutongs. But the
# _& m1 Y' b `# Z+ f9 Wsituation is sad. There are big economy interest behind this3 L! l( i; t) \' Q8 m3 B0 {
'progress'. Real estate businessmen and government officials would make' F2 h* f7 q( @( W3 Q3 u0 `( v
no money if they leave all the hutongs there. And they are moving so( \/ q' H. J; i( R
fast, there will be no hutong left after 2008 before any significant
& w& q2 L3 n: U% s: t+ m0 v. R# Kresistant opinion formed. This 'progress' is unlikely to stop unless
3 J. V% I6 s0 W! c9 K% G" fBeijing's estate market have a sudden dive before 2008 which is7 u/ k: h5 l5 [( s5 Q
unlikely to happen too. Sad!
|
|